


Lifestyle Choice

by kellsbells



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: 31st century, Do not read if you're sensitive, Emotional Abuse, F/F, Gaslighting, Homophobia, It's Not What It Seems, Legion of SuperHeroes - Freeform, Threats of non-con, from a friend, made up superheroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-16
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-03-19 12:42:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 33,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13704690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kellsbells/pseuds/kellsbells
Summary: "I'm sorry, Kara. Are you implying that because I am attracted to women, that I deserve this kind of intrusive attention?" Lena asked, incredulous.Kara gaped at her for a moment."No, but... I mean, you must be used to it, with your lifestyle and all?"Okay. This conversation was definitely over. Lena squeezed the bridge of her nose between her finger and thumb. Lifestyle?From nowhere, Kara comes into Lena's office complaining about a magazine article which portrays the two women as a couple. Apparently her recently-returned boyfriend, 'Mike', is incensed at the implication and pushes Kara into talking to Lena about it. This leads to a rift between the two friends until some new information comes to light, changing both of their lives forever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my lovely friend GaneWhoo, for making this a much better piece of writing.
> 
> Please take note of the additional tags. This fic deals with homophobia from the start, and was in part written as my response to what happened as SDCC last year. Don't read if it's going to be upsetting, my writing isn't that good, seriously. You can miss this one. :)

* * *

The magazine slammed against the desk, making Lena jump.

 

"Look, Lena. I know you're used to this kind of... interest in your private life. But I'm not. And Mike is, like, beyond pissed."

 

Lena made a non-committal humming noise.

 

"He said, and he's right, that it's not other people who get to decide your sexuality for you. And I am not gay, Lena," Kara insisted, folding her arms. 

 

Lena's eyes narrowed.

 

"Thank Mike for me, won't you, Kara? Because I had no idea that one's sexuality was one's own business. Such a liberating realisation," Lena said, rolling her eyes. "As to the rest of your speech, one doesn't have to be gay to be attracted to women. I'm not gay, but I am attracted to women."

 

Lena resisted the urge to sigh when Kara stiffened at that news.

 

"You're not... I mean, we're just friends, Lena, you do know that, right?" Kara asked, nervously.

 

"Yes, Kara, I am aware that you and I are just friends. What, do you think I somehow manufactured a narrative in which we were dating? Don’t worry, the queer CEO can keep it in her pants. Thank you for your faith in me," Lena drawled. It was time to wrap this up. "Now, I have a lot to do today, so you should probably see yourself out."

 

"But what about this?" Kara demanded, waving the magazine in Lena's face.

 

"What about it?" Lena asked, coolly. "The more attention you give to these bottom-feeders, the worse they get. Just ignore it and it will blow over," Lena said dismissively.

 

"That's easy for you to say, when you're all... queer, or whatever!" Kara exclaimed. "But I'm not! I don't deserve this!"

 

Lena was momentarily flabbergasted.

 

"I'm sorry, Kara. Are you implying that because I am attracted to women, that I _deserve_ this kind of intrusive attention?" Lena asked, incredulous.

 

Kara gaped at her for a moment.

 

"No, but... I mean, you must be used to it, with your lifestyle and all?"

 

Okay. This conversation was definitely over. Lena squeezed the bridge of her nose between her finger and thumb. _Lifestyle?_

 

"Kara. I really must insist that you go. Who I'm attracted to is my business. I don't deserve the attention of the press, nor do I deserve the way you're speaking to me right now. My 'lifestyle' is no different to yours. I work, I eat, I sleep. There is nothing wrong with who I am or who I love. And the fact that you would insinuate that there is... quite frankly, I'm shocked. I considered you a friend. It seems that was a mistake."

 

Lena stood stiffly and walked to the door, opening it and looking at Kara pointedly until she gathered her belongings, face flushed.

 

Kara paused as she reached the doorway.

 

"Lena, I..."

 

"I've heard enough, Kara. I don't want to see you here again."

 

Kara shuffled into the elevator, throwing angry, wounded looks at Lena every few steps. When the door closed and Kara was gone from view, Lena let herself relax.

 

"Are you okay, Miss Luthor?" Jess asked, ever the helpful, caring assistant.

 

"Not in the least, Jess," Lena said wearily. "Can you revoke Kara's... Miss Danvers’ permission to come and go as she pleases? And make a call to CatCo. Tell them if they want any more interviews with the openly bisexual CEO of LuthorCorp, then they might want to send someone who isn't homophobic."

 

Jess' eyes widened.

 

"Oh my God, Miss Luthor. I had no idea! She seems so nice!"

 

"I know," Lena said. Tears were welling in her eyes now. "You'd think I'd be used to this, how terrible a judge of character I am."

 

Jess placed a hand on Lena's shoulder tentatively.

 

"Hoping for the best from people doesn't make you a bad judge of character," Jess said, quietly.

 

"I wish that were true," Lena said, before turning and going back into her lonely office.

 

It was a long day, filled with the usual frustrations. A brief call from an irate Snapper Carr was quickly settled when she told him what Kara had said that afternoon, and he gruffly promised to take care of the issue. Lena vaguely hoped that Kara wouldn’t get fired, but it wasn’t acceptable for any journalist to have that sort of bias.

 

She went home and tried to read, but the words swam in front of her face, and so she decided, on the spur of the moment, to go out. A few drinks and a little company might help. She chose a lesbian bar, of course, because after her ‘talk’ with Kara that afternoon, she needed to be in a safe space.

 

She was shown to a booth at the back of National City’s premier lesbian bar, finding it busy but not too full. She sat and watched the dancers, drinking the expensive scotch slowly.

 

“Well, well. If it isn’t the littlest Luthor.”

 

Lena turned her head, finding the diminutive detective who’d arrested her leaning across her table with a grin on her face. Great. This was all she needed.

 

“Detective. I’m sorry, I can’t remember your name,” Lena said, with a smile faker than Kara Danvers’ friendship had turned out to be.

 

“Maggie, please. I’m off duty. What’s up with you, Luthor?” Maggie asked, tilting her head slightly.

 

“What?” Lena asked, staring at Maggie as if she was an alien. “Why do you care?”

 

“You just looked like you needed someone to talk to,” Maggie said, shrugging. “I can go, if you want. I’m not hitting on you, I promise. I have a girlfriend. She was supposed to be here, but she’s consoling her sister, whose best friend threw her out of her office today. And now I see said best friend who looks like her world just ended.”

 

“I just found out something about my ‘best friend’ that changed my mind,” Lena said. “She’s clearly not my friend. In fact, I’m surprised you want to have anything to do with her, either.”

 

Maggie sat down, eyes narrowing.

 

“What do you mean, Luthor?” she asked, pulling at the label on her beer.

 

“I mean, Kara burst into my office today complaining that we had been photographed by paparazzi, who assumed that we were a couple. And her boyfriend, Mike? Well, he wasn’t happy about the insinuation. So I needed to fix it for her, or so she said, because she couldn’t have people thinking she was gay. When I told her that I was bisexual, she first of all wanted to make sure that I didn’t think we were in a relationship,” Lena said, shaking her head. “Because clearly being bisexual makes me delusional, too. And then she told me that she didn’t deserve the scrutiny, because she wasn’t ‘all queer’ like I am. She more than insinuated that I deserved to be followed around and photographed because of my ‘lifestyle’. So I told her to get the hell out, I revoked her access to LCorp, and I told her boss what she’d said. As to her being my friend… that’s over. I have enough self-respect that I would rather lose someone I… cared about, than keep them in my life and allow them to treat me that way.”

 

Maggie looked disgusted when Lena looked up.

 

“I’m so sorry, Lena. She’s unbelievable. I never thought… she was so supportive when Alex came out. She’s been so nice to me, welcoming me to the family. I never imagined she… Jesus fucking Christ…” Maggie trailed off.

 

“I can’t believe she’s like that. She has always seemed so good, you know? Like she was this shining light in my life, and now it’s like she’s… tainted,” Lena said, staring into her drink morosely.

 

“I’m gonna get to the bottom of this, Lena. I promise you. There’s more going on here than just a paparazzi photograph. Kara… she’s a little different, I know, but she’s not homophobic. Or not on purpose, anyway. Leave it with me, okay? We’ll fix this,” Maggie said.

 

Lena laughed bitterly.

 

“Good luck, Detective Maggie. I don’t think you’re gonna be changing her mind anytime soon,” Lena said, holding up a finger at the bartender for another drink.

 

They drank in silence for a little while longer, before Lena decided to head home.

 

“Thank you for the company, detective,” she said, as she left.

 

“Sure, Lena. Can I get your number? I think I might need to get in touch with you, in future,” Maggie said. Lena shrugged, handing the woman her personal card, and she stumbled to her car, telling her driver in a slightly slurred voice to take her home.

 

It was a few days later when she got a call on her cell from an unknown number.

 

“Hey, Lena. It’s Maggie. I was wondering if you wanted to meet up for a drink?”

 

Lena agreed, and Maggie met her from work, taking her to a strange bar in the back alleys of one of the less savoury areas of National City.

 

“It’s full of aliens, Lena, but they’re all just here to have a drink. So don’t freak on me, okay?”

 

Lena nodded uncertainly, taking in her dress and stiletto pumps, as they stepped inside of a dive bar with sticky floors and some rather… strange clientele. One guy had huge eyes, like a fly, and another had pink gills sticking out of the side of his neck. No-one looked at them twice, however, so Lena relaxed. She still felt incredibly out of place, however, dressed up in her fuck-me pumps and pencil skirt.

 

They sat in a booth in the corner, and a few minutes after Maggie sat down with their drinks, Agent Alex Danvers appeared, sitting next to Maggie and kissing her, just a peck on the lips.

 

“So, I take it this is some sort of intervention, given that you didn’t tell me you were inviting Kara’s sister?” Lena asked, taking a sip of the cocktail that the bartender had made. It was delicious; sweet and tart. She saluted the bartender, a tall blonde woman, and jumped a little as the woman’s tongue flickered out, forked like a snake’s. The woman grinned, and Lena grinned back. Aliens fascinated her, in truth, and not in the usual “I want to dissect you” Luthor way. She was fascinated by the diversity of species in their universe, but her interest was always tempered by fear, because most aliens on earth would rather see her dead than speak to her.

 

“Not an intervention. Or at least, not for you,” Alex Danvers said. “What Kara said to you – that’s not her. After I came out to Maggie, the next person I told was Kara, and she was so supportive and caring. I couldn’t believe it when Maggie told me what she said. I’ll be honest; I thought you made it up at first. And then I spoke to Kara myself, and she spouted some of that… shit, at me. That’s when I realised there had to be more to it. So I bribed her with food, and she told me that Mon-El thought that you wanted to ‘mate’ with her.”

 

“Mon-El? You mean Mike, of course?” Lena asked.

 

“Yes. You knew he was Rhea’s son, right?” Alex asked.

 

“Yes, I did. But Kara kept calling him Mike, so I just went with it. I figured if she wanted to pretend he wasn’t an alien, I could go along with it,” Lena said, shrugging.

 

“Yeah, well. She was heartbroken when he had to go with the other Daxamites, but then… well, it’s a long story, but he managed to find a way to get back. And he… he’d been to the future, and apparently, he saw something about you and Kara,” Alex explained.

 

“Time travel?” Lena asked, sceptical.

 

“Yes. Welcome to my world,” Alex said. “In any case, he saw something, and accused her of spending too much time with you, and spouted all this garbage about how it wasn’t other people’s perceptions of your sexuality that mattered, and that Kara was straight, and she shouldn’t be afraid to tell people so they wouldn’t get the wrong idea.”

 

“I had no idea,” Lena said, shaking her head. “I always knew he was an ass, but… really?”

 

“It’s Kara who has shocked me,” Maggie said. “No matter what he has been telling her, she’s still her own woman. She’s one of the strongest people I know, and she’s just… she’s letting him dictate how she lives her life. It’s just… fucked up.”

 

“I thought she was stronger than this,” Alex said, taking Maggie’s beer, ignoring her protests, and taking a large mouthful.

 

“It’s not about how strong you are,” Lena said, absently. “I’m strong. But my mother, she was able to make me feel completely inadequate, like I wasn’t worth anything. Like Lex was perfect and I was just a waste of space.”

 

She remembered how her mother used to make her feel, and how sometimes she still had to gear herself up to go into the office each day, because she didn’t feel like she was worthy of running her father’s company. But she had multiple degrees and PhDs and she had managed to drag LuthorCorp, kicking and screaming, into the future, away from its xenophobic roots. With Jack Spheer, she had been _so_ close to curing cancer, she could practically taste it. She _was_ worthy, and it had taken years of therapy for her to realise that.

 

“He’s gaslighting her. He did it all the time, before the invasion. She would tell me about the things he’d say, and of course she tried to make it seem like he was talking about her being a reporter, thinking I didn’t know she was Supergirl. But he told her she was selfish, that all of the things she did for other people, they were really to make herself feel better. He was such an ass to her, all the time, and I tried to reassure her, but she just shrugged it off,” Lena said, playing with her thumb ring absently.

 

“You knew, this whole time?” Alex asked, frowning.

 

“Since she told me she flew to my office on a bus, yes. I figured it out,” Lena said sardonically. Maggie snorted.

 

“She’s the worst at keeping anything secret,” Maggie said.

 

“Yep,” Lena agreed, clinking her glass against Maggie’s beer bottle.

 

They had another round, not coming to any conclusions as to how to proceed, but Lena did insist on one thing.

 

“I want to be her friend. I want to be there for her. But she has to come to me, and she has to apologise. In the meantime, you guys need to keep an eye on Mike and find out what else he’s been saying to her.”

 

Maggie and Alex agreed, and they parted ways.

 

Kara had been sending text messages sporadically, none of which Lena had replied to, primarily because not a single one had included an apology. Kara had given lots of excuses, and said she wasn’t homophobic, because her sister was gay, but Lena had just shaken her head at that. She had heard that kind of excuse too many times to buy it.

 

It was a few days later when Kara came into her office without knocking, an irate Jess at her heels.

 

“Christ, she’s so fast!” Jess said. “I’m so sorry, Miss Luthor. I told her she wasn’t welcome.”

 

“It’s fine, Jess,” Lena said, shaking her head. “I know she’s fast. It’s not your fault. But keep security on standby, will you? Miss Danvers will be leaving shortly.”

 

Lena stood and walked around her desk, leaning back against it with her arms folded.

 

“What do you want?”

 

Kara looked up at her for the first time, and it was clear that she was angry and upset. Lena fought her instinct, which was to go to Kara and hold her.

 

“I just… I missed you,” Kara said, wiping her nose on her sleeve. Charming.

 

“Did you?” Lena asked, tonelessly. “I missed my friend, too. You might remember her. Sunny, sweet, caring. Someone who wouldn’t judge a person for their sexual orientation. Or so I thought.”

 

“I… I would never judge, you, Lena. You… Rao, you are perfect. I just… I’m not like that, and I had to make sure you knew that,” Kara mumbled. She was looking at her shoes. Lena rolled her eyes.  

 

“You can be sure that I know, Miss Danvers. Now, is there anything else?”

 

“Mike. He… I told him I was missing you, and he told me that if I became friends with you again, that he’d hurt himself, because he can’t live without me. And I can’t let him be hurt, Lena,” Kara exclaimed.

 

“Yes, I understand,” Lena said. “You couldn’t hurt someone you care about, after all. That would be a terrible thing to do.”

 

Kara flinched, still not looking at Lena.

 

“I didn’t mean to hurt you,” she mumbled.

 

“And yet, here I stand. In pain, wondering why you’ve come back to rub salt in the wound,” Lena said smoothly. “So whatever you meant? It doesn’t matter. As a result of your actions, I’m hurt and I’ve lost the one person in this city who I thought I could depend on. So, unless there’s something else, I’d really like you to go,” Lena finished.

 

“Okay,” Kara mumbled. She kept looking up, as if expecting Lena to give in, expecting Lena to go to her, to comfort her. Lena stood still, however, fighting every instinct that was telling her to hold Kara, to make it better, to comfort her. But then she wondered what Kara would do if she hugged her. Would she pull away, stiffen in disgust? Because that would be the final nail in the coffin.

 

Kara left, and Jess came in briefly to see if Lena was all right, but Lena just waved her away with a wan smile. She called Maggie and told her what Kara had said.

 

“Thanks, Luthor. Something is going on, here. I think we need to talk to the Daxamite,” Maggie said.

 

“Count me out of that, please,” Lena muttered.

 

“No problem,” Maggie said. “We’ll handle it.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Superfriends start working to make Kara see what she's becoming because of Mon-El. And Mon-El doesn't help himself.

* * *

Maggie Sawyer was a detective. She detected; that was her job. To keep worrying at the problem until the facts came spilling out. Some of her colleagues called her a terrier, because she was well known for never giving up on a case, and her percentage of closed cases was higher than anyone else in the department as a consequence of her tenacity.

 

Mon-El of Daxam was an asshole. Anyone with eyes could tell that. Sure, he talked the talk, about wanting to change, about wanting to be a hero. But every time the option to show his ‘heroism’ came up, he hid. Like when he was on that Slaver planet with Kara, and neither of them had their powers. He stood back and let the guards shock Kara almost to death. Kara didn’t have her fucking powers either, but her response to the guards coming at her with taser spears of death was to hold her arms out to protect the humans behind her. So, as far as Maggie Sawyer was concerned, Mon-El was a fucking asshole, not a hero.

 

The problem was, while he was as dumb as a box of frogs on one level, on another he was…clever. He had found Kara’s weakness right away, and it wasn’t that green rock. It was her good nature. She wanted to help, she wanted to have a second chance at being who she would have been on Krypton. She wanted to help everyone and he took advantage of that, claiming he wanted to be like her. Once he’d wormed his way into her good graces, he managed to convince her that her desire to help people was selfishness, that in saving people she was just proving how superior she was as a Kryptonian. And while Maggie loved Alex Danvers dearly, Alex hadn’t helped. She’d pushed Kara towards Mon-El, just because she was happy with Maggie. It was as if the fact that she’d found love had totally removed her good judgement, because the Alex that Maggie met would never have encouraged Kara to go anywhere near the Daxamite. He was a fuckboy, as the kids were calling it, and he probably never would learn respect for anyone but himself. Kara was brought up as a noble, too, but even as a child she would have rejected the notion of slavery, while Mon-El had reached his majority on Daxam and never said a damn word about the subject, using and abusing slaves and only realising how ‘wrong’ it was when literally everyone around him was disgusted with him. According to Winn, he had once bemoaned the fact that he used to be able to treat people however he wanted, because his life was so much easier when he could do that. It made Maggie want to hurl.

 

Maggie approached J’onn first, after her alarming conversation with Lena Luthor. J’onn had always been unimpressed with Mon-El, watching him with suspicion and very thin tolerance.

 

“Detective?” J’onn asked, when she asked if they could talk somewhere.

 

“Somewhere private, Director,” she clarified. He nodded, then, and led her to his office.

 

“So, Detective, what’s going on with Kara?” he asked, eyes blazing red. It was a bit disconcerting, the whole red-eye thing, but then teaching someone English by French-kissing them was a bit unusual too, and Maggie had done that for her ex, Darla. So what was one more freaky alien thing?

 

“Can you just, like, read it, or whatever?” Maggie asked, and he nodded, skimming through those particular memories quickly. Maggie knew that she could trust J’onn with anything he picked up accidentally. Besides, she had nothing more to hide now that she was with Alex.

 

“Damn,” he muttered. “I was worried that something like this was going to happen.”

 

Maggie nodded. It wasn’t so much about Kara making those comments to Lena. Kara wasn’t the homophobic sort. She wasn’t the anything-phobic sort. She was loving and cared about everything and everyone. The fact that she’d said something so hurtful to someone she cared about while not under the influence of Red Kryptonite or any other mind-altering substance was the problem. Kara Danvers wasn’t hurtful. Kara Danvers tied herself in knots so as not to be remotely hurtful to anyone.

 

“Do you have any ideas?” Maggie asked.

 

“Not that come to mind immediately. The Daxamite… he’s a weak, insecure thing, and by making her think less of herself, he gains power over her. Supergirl’s well-being is my responsibility, but I’m not sure that stretches to her love life,” J’onn said, frowning.

 

“He’s being emotionally abusive, cutting her off from friends and family. This thing with Lena – I don’t know where it came from. That woman has never laid a finger on Kara, never done anything but be good to her. I think she loves Kara, but I don’t think she would ever make a move. It’s like… he said something about the future, and how he’d seen what happened to Kara. I think that there’s a chance that Lena and Kara are supposed to get together in the future, and that he’s trying to stop it by making Kara think that Lena is some sort of… predatory dyke, or something,” Maggie said. “There has to be something we can do.”

 

“Unless you want me to arrange for Mon-El to be exiled from Earth for unspecified crimes, which I really can’t do, the only things that we can do involve talking to Kara and trying to show her the error of her ways,” J’onn said.

 

Operation ‘Make Kara see again’ began that same day.

 

All the Super Friends were pulled in to help. Winn was a little distracted by his Guardian side-kick duties, as well as his relationship with Lyra, which was still going just as strong as it had when they first met. Nauseatingly so, for anyone who had to watch their public displays of affection. James, of course, was busy Guardian-ing, and still helping to run CatCo when Cat wasn’t around, but he hated the frat boy, and was glad to get on board.

 

They didn’t have a plan, as such, other than spending as much time with Kara as they could, and to counter Mon-El’s pervasive bullshit with actual sense. When Mon-El told Kara over dinner with Alex and Maggie that she really should start charging for early morning and late-night rescues, since that was interrupting when they had sex, Alex had, in a very restrained manner, told him that Kara’s choice had always been to care for others before herself, and that National City needed Supergirl more than his cock did. He had shut up very quickly after that, because Kara had actually been angry at him for that comment.

 

He continued to poison her relationship with Lena, so Maggie took to mentioning Lena to Alex anytime Kara was around.

 

“She’s just so… alone. She’s such a good person, the way she turned her family’s company around. And I had to arrest her, you know?” Maggie said, on one afternoon when they were gathered in the DEO’s ops centre waiting for the co-ordinates of an alien gang’s hideout.

 

“I heard she managed to get the alien detection device rebranded and sold as a medical device,” Alex said, nodding in approval. “I didn’t agree at the beginning, but I think she’s a good person. Should we have her over for dinner?”

 

Kara had turned away, reddening, when Alex asked Maggie that.

 

“Hey Kar, you want to come to dinner on Friday? I know you haven’t seen Lena in a while,” Alex said, feigning ignorance of the reason for their falling out.

 

“No, thanks,” Kara said, her mouth twisting.

 

“Look, I know you guys had an argument, but it wasn’t serious, right? I mean, you never told me what happened between you two, but I’m sure it can’t have been that serious. I mean, she’s been so good to you,” Alex said, eyes on Kara’s.

 

“No, it’s… she didn’t do anything, I guess. But I don’t want to… Mon-El is taking me out,” Kara said, clearly lying through her teeth.

 

“Oh, I thought he was working Friday,” Alex said. “Isn’t that what M’gann said, babe?” she asked Maggie, casually.

 

“Yeah, Kara. You must have the night wrong, there’s a thing at the bar on Friday, M’gann told me the other night. So, you gonna come along?” Maggie asked.

 

Kara suddenly heard a siren and had to leave, whooshing out of the DEO in her usual fashion, but when Alex asked Vasquez if there’d been an alert, the agent shook her head, a dark look on her face. Susan Vasquez was a proud member of the LGBT community, and had been shocked and disappointed in Kara when she overheard Maggie talking to Winn about the Lena Luthor situation earlier in the week.

 

Alex and Maggie had dinner with Lena, but Kara never showed. No-one was surprised.

 

Winn went for drinks with James and Mon-El a few nights later, and Mon spent the entire night flirting with anything vaguely female that passed them.

 

“Dude, you have a girlfriend,” Winn remarked, shaking his head.

 

“What my mate doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Anyway, she knows I want to latch with her. Kara will forgive me, she always does,” Mon-El had finished, a cocky smirk on his face. Winn had to step in a few seconds later, when Mon-El’s hand ‘accidentally’ slipped onto a very intimate place on Darla the Roltikkon barmaid’s anatomy, ending up in him being barred from the bar as a customer. Darla also said she’d be talking to M’gann about his employment, because she didn’t come to Earth for safety only to be treated like dirt by yet another shitty Daxamite.

 

“You know, Mon-El, Kara really values honesty. If you really love her, you shouldn’t be acting that way with other girls,” Winn said, double checking his phone to make sure it was still recording.

 

“Kara is my mate, and she will do what she’s damn well told, Winn. She’s mine, and I decide how she feels and what she values,” Mon-El roared, pushing Winn away and into a wall that was over ten feet away. Winn felt his head crack against the wall, and he slid down it, groaning. He could taste blood, and a quick fingertip at the back of his head showed that he was bleeding from a head wound, too. The pain was dazzling him. James had pulled Mon-El away from Winn and was standing between them, trying to talk the Daxamite down. A few moments later, Mon-El was apologising, and as he smiled at Winn, the young programmer suddenly realised that _this_ was what Kara was up against. Someone who was used to using their ‘charm’ to paste over the cracks they made with their temper, someone willing and able to manipulate their significant other emotionally. Mon-El was not intelligent, nowhere near the kind of intellect that Kara had, but he was clever in that he could sense emotional weaknesses, he could use a person’s own fears and insecurities against them. Even seeing Mon-El clearly, Winn could still feel a part of himself that wanted to be back in the Daxamite’s good graces, because he was charming and when he was in a good mood, he made Winn feel good about himself. But then he remembered Mon-El’s words of a few moments ago, and he shivered.

 

_“She’s mine, and I decide how she feels and what she values.”_

Winn backed away warily, and then turned, walking out of the alleyway, leaving James to deal with Mon-El’s temper tantrum. He needed to get his head sewed back together, and Alex needed to hear this recording.

 

It was only Winn’s own experiences with Lyra that made him really see how Mon-El treated Kara. Lyra had, at first, used Winn’s desire to be loved, his fear of being alone, against him. She’d tried to use him as a scapegoat for a robbery she committed so that she could get her brother released from some shady alien’s custody. And even after all that, she’d manipulated him and even threatened him with violence when she didn’t get her way. After a lot of time talking with M’gann and J’onn and the DEO’s counsellor, he managed to see what she was doing. As it turned out, Lyra was a good sort, and she just turned to manipulation and using her sexuality to get what she wanted because it was the easy option. Thankfully, when he’d addressed it with her, though his voice squeaked, she had realised he was serious and had done her best to stop the shitty behaviour. She still backslid sometimes, but then Winn had his own faults, one of which was being manipulative at times, too. He’d even tried that shit with Kara at one point, trying to make it seem like, if she didn’t love him, he was just going to end up like his dad. He’d outgrown that kind of shitty stuff, but it seemed like Mon-El really hadn’t.

 

When Winn reached headquarters, Alex Danvers was there immediately, in full big sister mode.

 

“What the hell happened to you?” she demanded, taking in his bloody mouth (he really had bitten his tongue badly) and his blood-slicked hair.

 

“Mob-Ew,” he managed, through his swollen tongue.

 

“Mon-El did this?” Alex asked, eyes narrowing.

 

“Yeth,” Winn confirmed. Alex practically dragged him to the infirmary, where she and Dr Hamilton stitched his tongue and head, respectively.

 

“So, how did this happen?” Alex asked, impatiently, as she stitched his tongue, not realising that effectively made it impossible for him to talk. He rolled his eyes, then winced, before pulling out his smartphone and playing back the recording of what Mon-El had said in the bar.

 

Alex listened, stitching furiously, and Winn just hoped his tongue wouldn’t be creased up like a set of kitchen blinds when he woke in the morning.

 

“Is that all?” she asked, when the recording finished with Mon-El’s apologies fading into the distance.

 

Winn nodded.

 

“Thanks, Winn.”

 

***

 

Alex left Winn looking dispirited and bruised. She went to find J’onn, who was meditating in one of the training rooms. He frowned as soon as she opened the door.

 

“Is Winn okay?” he asked, turning.

 

“You said you didn’t listen to my thoughts,” Alex said, frowning.

 

“I don’t listen, but nor am I deaf, Alex, and you’ve been screaming about Winn and ‘that Daxamite fuck’ since the door opened. So forgive me if I pick up on that,” J’onn said, shooting her his death glare.

 

“Sorry,” Alex said, wincing a little. “I’m really sorry. I just… _fuck_ , J’onn. He just assaulted Winn because Winn told him he should treat Kara well. He could’ve killed him.”

 

J’onn nodded.

 

“I think we should start by bringing Mon-El up on charges. He does work for us, after all. Can you send a team, Alex? And be sure you’re not on it, because I know you’ll go too far.”

 

Alex nodded reluctantly, retreating before sending out a team to capture Mon-El. He was no longer susceptible to lead poisoning, but he could still be shocked into submission with the DEO’s alien-grade tasers. She gave the orders, making sure that the team knew they were to take the Daxamite douche in alive, but if he caused trouble, they could call for backup.

 

She went back to her lab, seeing that Winn had already sent her the audio file of the whole debacle. She sent it to Maggie, and was unsurprised when her office phone rang a few minutes later. It was more than a few minutes before Maggie stopped swearing in Spanish, but when she did, she sounded sad instead of angry.

 

“You okay, Mags?”

 

“Is Winn okay?”

 

“Yes. We had to stitch up his tongue and his head. Mon-El threw him across an alleyway into a wall.”

 

“That fucker. Winn’s been so good, trying to help Kara and all. What are you gonna do about it, Alex?” Maggie asked.

 

“J’onn told me to bring him up on charges. He assaulted a fellow DEO officer. Maybe Kara will realise that he’s not the guy he pretends to be after this,” Alex said. She knew it wasn’t likely, though.

 

“Yeah, maybe,” Maggie said. She didn’t sound like she believed it any more than Alex did.

 

Alex went to check on Winn again before she left, finding him asleep on a gurney in the medbay, Agent Vasquez watching over him. She heard Mon-El shouting as she was about to leave, and she wavered for a moment, wondering if she should go and beat the living shit out of him. But common sense prevailed, and she left him to cool his heels for J’onn to deal with in the morning.

 

As she turned out of the DEO parking garage, her cell rang. It was Kara.

 

“Hey, Kar,” Alex said, casually, letting the car’s Bluetooth pick up the call.

 

“Alex? Have you seen Mon-El?” her sister’s voice came through the speakers.

 

“You didn’t hear?” Alex asked, voice tight with anger.

 

“What?” Kara asked, sounding defensive already.

 

“I had to send out a team to bring him in. He attacked Winn.”

 

“What?! Why would you arrest him, Alex? He’s on our side!” Kara yelled.

 

Alex took a deep, slow breath.

 

“He cracked Winn’s skull, and Amelia and I spent 40 minutes stitching up his wounds. If _you_ did that, I’d be checking you for Red Kryptonite right now, Kara. He’s part of an organisation that was set up to deal with extranormal threats. Today, he was the threat, and he injured one of his fellow agents – one of your _friends_ – because he was drunk and in a bad mood. J’onn ordered me to have him detained, and I agreed with his order, Kara. And if you care about your friends, then you should agree too.”

 

There was silence for over a minute, but Alex could hear Kara breathing, thinking.

 

“He hurt him that bad? Why?”

 

“I don’t know,” Alex lied. “But I do know that James was there, and that he said that Winn was just talking to Mon-El. He didn’t try to hit him or say anything that should have resulted in that behaviour.”

 

Another silence. Alex made it through 3 intersections and passed 2 food trucks before Kara spoke again.

 

“I’m sorry, Alex. I should have known you wouldn’t have done that without… without good reason.”

 

“Thanks, Kara,” Alex said, resisting the urge to be sarcastic. “He did a bad thing, and he needs to answer for that.”

 

“You’re right,” Kara said, sighing. “I guess I’ll come in to the DEO in the morning and we’ll work it out from there.”

 

Alex said goodnight, and hung up just before she pulled up in her parking spot. She could only hope that this was the beginning of an awakening for Kara on the subject of Mon-El, but she wasn’t hopeful.

 

She had never been so happy about Maggie being home, and suddenly all she wanted to do was be wrapped up in her girlfriend’s arms, where she could leave behind Mon-El and his misogynistic bullshit. It wasn’t like Alex hadn’t noticed how guys were before she realised she was gay, but since coming out she’d found cultural norms to be increasingly annoying. Sure, Mon-El was charming, and handsome in a large-foreheaded kind of way, but he also used his charm and privilege to get what he wanted from everyone around him. It seemed like the world – even Kara, now – was programmed to think that his behaviour was perfectly acceptable.

 

“Well, not to me,” she muttered, as she dug her key from her pocket and opened the door. “Not to me.”

 

***

 

Lena was tired. Mon-El, the Daxamite douchewaffle, was in DEO custody while they set a date for his disciplinary hearing, court martial, whatever the DEO version of it was. Maggie and Alex had filled her in, and she felt sick to her stomach when she heard what the idiot had roared at Winn about how what Kara wanted or felt was up to him. He was an entitled, sick little shit, and if Lena had known all of this before, she might have ‘accidentally’ skewered him with a lead blade long before the Daxamite invasion.

 

She hadn’t had any more texts from Kara, which is why she was surprised to get a call from security asking if they should let her up or not. In the circumstances, she figured she might as well hear what Kara had to say, and then she could put her restriction back in place. Not that she’d really managed to enforce it that well in the first place.

 

“Jess, could you bring me some coffee and aspirin? And I gave security permission to let Kara Danvers through, so don’t glare at her too hard, will you? You’ll strain your eyes.”

 

Jess snorted, hanging up, and Lena went to pour herself a glass of water from the decanter on the side cabinet. It had been a long week, and she had a hell of a lot of work to do. She wanted to be Kara’s friend and wanted to help her escape this destructive relationship with Mon-El, but she didn’t deserve to be torn down as collateral damage.

 

She turned, sitting on the edge of her desk, waiting for Kara to come in. Kara did so quietly, head down. Jess followed her in, handing Lena her aspirin and leaving her coffee on the desk. She pointedly didn’t offer Kara anything.

 

Lena took her aspirin, washing it down with some water, and when she set it down, Kara was standing in front of her, and then she was hugging Lena, crying into her shoulder, sobbing about how sorry she was.

 

Lena took a deep breath, and wrapped her arms around Kara. Because what else could she do?

 

“It’s going to be okay,” she murmured, squeezing Kara tightly, making sure that her hands were solidly in the middle of Kara’s back so she couldn’t be accused, at a later date, of trying to take advantage. That she had to think that way around her friend – it made her heart hurt. But if Mon-El had been manipulating Kara as much as Maggie and Alex seemed to think, maybe Lena could forgive what Kara had said. In any case, she wasn’t the type of person to turn a friend away, not like this.

 

It was a while before Kara stopped sobbing, and when she did, she pulled away, looking embarrassed and upset.

 

“Are you okay, Kara?” Lena asked, evenly. She took a sip from her cooling coffee as she watched Kara struggle to formulate an answer.

 

“I’m okay. I just… Alex had to bring Mon-El in on charges, to the DEO,” Kara said.

 

“I know,” Lena said.

 

“How did you hear about that?” Kara asked.

 

“Alex,” Lena said, shrugging. So Kara didn’t even know that Alex had stayed in touch with Lena? Just how badly lost was she, in this emotional web of Mon-El’s weaving?

 

“I didn’t know… I didn’t…” Kara paused for a minute, finding a Kleenex and wiping her face. “I mean, I knew that he got angry sometimes. He loses his temper when he thinks I don’t support him. But I never thought he’d hurt a human, you know?”

 

Lena nodded, her fists clenching as she thought about what Mon-El might do when he loses his temper in Kara’s presence.

 

“Anyway, I guess I just thought… he’d never hurt anyone. Because I would never… and then I realised, how much _I’d_ hurt you. And that’s why I came. If you never want to see me again, Lena, I will understand, because I don’t even want to see me again,” Kara said, clearly miserable.

 

“I don’t know what I want, Kara. I do know that what you said to me was insulting and hurtful on so many levels that I… I don’t even have the words. I care about you a great deal, and I know that I would do pretty much anything to help you. But making myself into your punching bag is not one of those things I would do. If Mike is homophobic, or thinks that I would ever try to break up a couple, that’s his problem. The fact that _you_ would behave in that way – think that I would ever do that, that I would befriend you just to get in your pants? That hurts, a lot. And honestly, Kara, I’m uncomfortable even being this close to you, because I can’t help but think that you’re going to accuse me of trying to get you alone for my own nefarious purposes the next time Mike says something to you.”

 

Kara winced, and Lena shrugged.

 

“You spoke to me as if I was some sort of pervert, Kara. You turned our friendship into something tainted, and I don’t honestly know if we can get that back,” Lena continued. “I wish I knew what else to say.”

 

“I understand,” Kara said.

 

“That being said,” Lena interjected, “I will always care about you, and if there’s ever anything you need, Kara, you can call me.”

 

Kara looked at her incredulously.

 

“Why would you say that?” she asked, mouth agape.

 

“I still care about you, Kara. I will probably always worry about you. I don’t know if I can trust you to be _my_ friend, after everything, but I do know that I will always be yours. So if you need anything, you know where I am. But not for interviews, not anymore. You burned that bridge.”

 

Kara nodded.

 

“Thank you, Lena. I don’t… I never meant that stuff, I never meant to say any of it, but Mon-El was so mad, and I just… I took it out on you. I have always supported Alex, and I would never think less of someone because of what their sexual orientation is. Except that I did, and I can never apologise enough for that,” Kara rambled.

 

“Okay, Kara. Thank you,” Lena said, though what she was thanking Kara for, she wasn’t sure. She did feel relieved, somehow, because even though she wasn’t sure if they could ever be friends again, at least they didn’t have to be enemies.

 

“Can I… can I give you a hug?” Kara asked, hesitantly, wiping more tears away.

 

Lena hesitated.

 

“Okay,” she said, thinking that it might just be the last time they ever did this, so she might as well say goodbye properly to this woman who had become her best friend, if not for long.

 

Kara wrapped her up in her arms, giving what Lena used to refer to in her head as one of her ‘super hugs’. It felt amazing, and she didn’t want to let go, but she stepped back, long before she wanted to.

 

“Good luck with Mike,” Lena said, politely. “I hope it all works out.”

 

“Hmm,” Kara said, attempting a smile that fell off her face immediately. “Thank you for seeing me, Lena.”

 

Lena smiled briefly, and then Kara turned to leave. Lena relaxed immediately, sinking into the couch, rubbing at her temples. That hadn’t gone too badly, considering. She wanted Kara to be happy, and even though in her deepest dreams she might imagine being the reason for that happiness, she would gladly give up on that to see Kara with someone worthy of her. But the Daxamite wasn’t the one for Kara. Or for anyone, in Lena’s opinion, unless he had some sort of personal epiphany and spent the rest of his life atoning for his douchebaggery.

 

Lena sent a quick message to Alex and Maggie, arranging to meet them that night at the alien bar to talk things through. It had been a busy day even before Kara’s arrival, and it didn’t look, from her schedule, like it was going to get any easier. She could use a drink, and the company of like-minded people who didn’t hate her would be a balm to her wounded soul right about now.

 

She sighed and called Jess to send in her next meeting. No rest for the wicked. Lena briefly wondered what it was that she’d done that was so fucking wicked. Then she put on her game face and smiled as the CEO from a new tech startup stepped through the door and into her office. No rest, indeed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mon-El shows his true colours, and Kara begins to see the light.

* * *

 

J’onn J’onzz was, by human standards, ancient. He was almost 400 years old. He had lived on Earth for several hundred of those years; he’d lost count of how many, exactly. It was only recently that Earth technology and knowledge improved to the point that he was detectable by some of their technology, and that’s when Hank Henshaw and Jeremiah Danvers found him somewhere deep in the South American rainforest. His life on Earth, which had been mostly quiet and unassuming up until then, suddenly became much more. Following Hank Henshaw’s apparent death, he took the man’s form, becoming the Director of the DEO, an anti-alien organisation which had been set up to deal with extra-terrestrial threats since Superman’s emergence on the scene. J’onn’s purpose in doing so was to protect Alex and Kara Danvers, because their father had saved him from Hank Henshaw, who would have killed him. He had a debt and he intended to honour it.

 

He had never expected to find himself in this sort of situation. Before, he had lived apart from humans for the most part. He hadn’t ever expected to feel so close to a group of humans. To consider them family. And now he was here, about to talk to the Daxamite lover of one young woman he considered a daughter, and he was finding it hard to keep his temper after speaking to so many people about what Mon-El had been saying and doing since he returned from his ‘trip’. Whoever made him immune to lead poisoning had a lot to answer for, as far as J’onn was concerned.

 

“Mon-El,” he said, as he rounded the corner to find the man sulking on the small bed in his cell.

 

“Director,” Mon-El spat, not looking up.

 

“You know why you’re here, I assume?” J’onn asked.

 

“It was an accident. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. And Winn totally overreacted, okay? I’m pretty sure he did that to himself, to make me look bad,” Mon-El said, looking up with wide, innocent eyes.

 

“Is that so?” J’onn asked, grabbing a chair from the corner and sitting in front of Mon-El’s cell. “Tell me more, please. What exactly happened that night?”

 

J’onn sat there, straight-faced and impassive as Mon-El spun a web of deceit, saying that Winn had goaded him into pushing him, that he had been saying rude, unpleasant things about Kara, and that Mon-El had been trying to defend her honour. He didn’t know, of course, that Winn had recorded the whole thing.

 

When he was finished with his tale of woe, one that made him into a hero and Winn into a deceitful, lying bully, Mon-El looked at J’onn plaintively. Had J’onn not clearly been able to hear his thoughts – Daxamites didn’t have the same immunity to telepathy that Kryptonians had – he might have been tempted to re-check the recording and to talk to James and Winn again, because Mon-El was _convincing_. But in the circumstances, he was well aware of Mon-El’s deceit. J’onn asked him a few more questions, deliberately making his voice sound softer in the hope that Mon-El would believe J’onn was on his side. As Mon-El droned on about being a ‘hero’, J’onn rifled through his thoughts to find the root of this business. There was a clear image in Mon-El’s mind of Kara with Lena Luthor, both dressed for a wedding, and then it switched to the next picture, which was of the two women kissing each other lovingly. The pictures were dated two years from now, according to the publication date of the article.

 

J’onn nodded to himself as he continued to pick through Mon-El’s thoughts. The boy had narcissistic personality disorder, in J’onn’s opinion. He’d come across more than one human with this disorder in the past, and their brains always had the same… flavour. Delusion, jealousy, bitterness and insecurity, mixed with a desperate need to control those around them. He was a sick man, and absolutely should not be around Kara Zor-El, or anyone else with the sort of emotional vulnerability that Kara occasionally displayed. It appeared that whatever had been wrong with him initially had been exponentially increased during his time in the Phantom Zone. Few people spent time in there without becoming seriously crazy. Astra had been a moderate eco-activist when she went in, and an overt terrorist and murderer when she came out. He wondered why the Kryptonians had continued using it as a prison – it clearly didn’t help rehabilitate anyone. He remembered telling Kal’s grandfather Seg-El about his theory centuries before.

 

J’onn smiled as Mon-El chattered on about something or another, nodding along, and after promising that he would look into the situation, he left Mon-El behind in his cell. Sometimes he wished he was still on Mars, because decisions never fell on one person. Their entire village merged minds sometimes to decide on important matters, and once he had been part of a merge of the entire population, when they had to decide how to deal with the White Martians. He wished that he could have that support again. However, he was alone, barring M’gann, who was back on Mars trying to raise more support from like-minded White Martians. It was time he took control of this situation before it destroyed the DEO’s most important asset.

 

He met with Alex and they made a thorough report of the incident with Winn, including witness testimony from James and Winn, the audio recording of the incident, and the video of the interview he’d just had with the Daxamite. They worked for several hours together, and then they set a date for a court martial that would likely end in Mon-El’s dismissal from the DEO’s employ. A simple fight after drinking wouldn’t normally result in that sort of reprisal against an agent, but a superpowered agent misusing their powers and then lying to the Director about it? That definitely warranted dismissal.

 

The court martial was set for a week later, during which time Mon-El would still be incarcerated, but would be allowed to consult with a DEO lawyer to plan his defence. Supergirl was also informed during her next visit to the DEO. Despite her initial anger, her face changed as she read the list of charges provided to her by the ever-stoic Agent Vasquez. J’onn couldn’t read her mind, but he could easily read the pain on her face.

 

“Did he… did he really lie to your face like that, J’onn?” Kara asked, distraught. She reached up for glasses that weren’t there, and J’onn resisted the urge to take her hand and soothe her. He had to be professional for this.

 

“I’m afraid so, Kara. There is video evidence, if you care to look. And audio evidence of his attack on Winn.”

 

Kara shook her head slowly, rubbing at the crinkle on her forehead.

 

“No, that… I don’t need to see that,” Kara said, clearly troubled. “I guess I’ll see it at his court martial, anyway.”

 

“You don’t… you have no need to be there, Supergirl,” J’onn said.

 

“I think perhaps it might be a good idea if I’m there, just in case there’s any trouble,” Kara said.

 

J’onn nodded and left her to her thoughts. Being a member of a family wasn’t easy, not at all, and he was out of practice. But if he could protect his daughter, then perhaps this would all be worth it.

 

***

 

Lena was back in her office after a long, boring board meeting. She was tired of listening to the second-guessing, the comments of “are you sure that’s how you want to handle that?”, the old men calling her “dear” or “darling”. She was the most successful CEO in the entire history of LuthorCorp. Her inventions alone had so far more or less offset the losses the company had sustained as a result of Lex’s actions, not to mention the support, investment and growth she was personally responsible for. They could all go and fuck themselves, she decided, as she took her hair down from its tight ponytail and took off her stiletto heels.

 

As she settled herself on the couch in her office with a sandwich, some tea, and a book, she was interrupted by Jess sticking her head around the door.

 

“Miss Luthor, I’ve just had a call from security. Kara Danvers is here to see you?”

 

“Fine, Jess. Have them send her up,” Lena said, sighing.

 

“Are you sure, Miss Luthor? I know you’re tired, and there’s that conference call with Beijing in an hour,” Jess said, worried.

 

“It’s fine, Jess. If she pisses me off, you can throw her off the balcony, okay?” Lena said.

 

Jess snorted in amusement.

 

“I’m going to hold you to that, Miss Luthor,” she said, leaving and closing the door behind her. Lena took a bite of her sandwich, which was completely tasteless, and washed it down with a large slurp of tea.

 

Kara arrived with a bag of food, and Lena’s nose was suddenly very interested in what was in the bag.

 

“I brought your favourite. I know you probably wouldn’t have time to get something nice, and I wanted to say thank you for what you… for being so nice to me, when I didn’t – don’t – deserve it,” Kara said, without preamble.

 

Lena made a ‘gimme’ gesture with her hands, and Kara smiled and started emptying the bag onto the coffee table next to them.

 

“Yes,” Lena breathed, taking the somehow scalding hot, fresh pad Thai from Kara with a smile.

 

“I thought you might need something to cheer you up. I was pretty sure you’d be eating kale sandwiches, or something gross like that,” Kara said.

 

Lena pushed the spinach salad sandwich behind a lamp surreptitiously before beginning to eat the Pad Thai almost as voraciously as Kara usually ate her food. Not today, though, apparently. Kara was staring at the food inside the tub in her hands, chopsticks still, and crinkle fully in evidence.

 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Lena asked, taking another mouthful of food. It really was spectacular, and her stomach was crying out for more.

 

“I… it’s Mike. Mon-El. He… he’s being court-martialled, the DEO call it, and I think… I think he might deserve it,” Kara said, in a rush.

 

“I don’t doubt that,” Lena said softly.

 

“You… you don’t?” Kara asked, eyes narrowing.

 

“I don’t. Alex told me what happened, and I saw Winn a few days ago. He looked awful, and he can barely speak.”

 

“Yeah, I know,” Kara said, her head hanging down a little more. “Mon – Mike – he said that Winn was at fault, but the Director of the DEO – he showed me the charges. They have audio evidence of the assault and they have video evidence of him lying about what happened – to the Director.”

 

“Jesus. Is he really that stupid?” Lena asked, acerbically.

 

Kara frowned at her.

 

“Don’t expect me to be sympathise with him, Kara. He’s the one who has been feeding you poison about me being some sort of perverted, predatory lesbian. I have very little time for him. But I’m sorry that he’s hurt you by doing this stuff. And I’m especially sorry that he has hurt Winn, because I have a real soft spot for – what did you say Cat used to call him? The cardigan hobbit?”

 

Kara laughed.

 

“Yes, that’s what Cat used to call him. It suits him, oddly.”

 

“Yes, it does. And I’m sorry, Kara, but I can’t imagine him starting a fight with Mike or saying something so awful that Mike would have been justified in hurting him like that, can you?” Lena asked.

 

“No,” Kara admitted. “I really can’t.”

 

“Could I?” Lena asked, pointing at Kara’s stash of potstickers. She didn’t normally eat this much, but it had been a really long day. Kara handed them over absently, and Lena ate a few before she realised that Kara had just voluntarily given her potstickers. She was eating potstickers that Kara Danvers had _given_ to her.

 

“You didn’t have to let me in, I realise that,” Kara said, after a few moments. She was watching Lena with a tiny smile on her face as Lena finished the rest of the potstickers.

 

“I didn’t,” Lena agreed. “But I meant what I said. I’m still… I’m here, if you need me.”

 

“Thank you, Lena,” Kara said.

 

“You’re welcome,” Lena said, smiling. She wiped her hands on a napkin and stood as Kara got up, a little awkwardly, to go. “And if… I’m still here, Kara. If you need me. If you need someone to talk to. Don’t expect me to be sympathetic to Mike/Mon-El – whatever his name is, but I am always here for you.”

 

Kara looked at her for a long moment, face unreadable, and Lena just looked back, ignoring the thumping of her heart. She still cared, and she always would, and no matter what her private feelings about Kara might be, she would always try to be a friend. Even if Kara continued with her idiotic relationship with Mon-El. Even though she probably didn’t deserve Lena’s friendship, she still had it. That was all.

 

Lena swallowed, and Kara looked away, reddening.

 

“I should…” she indicated the door with a thumb, smiling widely. It was her ‘pasting over the cracks’ smile, and it made Lena’s heart clench to see it.

 

“Of course,” Lena said, nodding. “Good luck with the court martial. You know where I am.”

 

Kara nodded, head dropping, and then she left. Lena stared at the door for an eternity after Kara left, wondering how she was supposed to handle her own feelings for Kara along with the pain that Kara had caused her personally, and the shit that Mon-El seemed to be pulling. She was worried about Kara, worried about how much Kara could hurt her, and worried that Mon-El was going to completely destroy the sweet, caring person that Kara had always been.

 

She went to get ready for her conference call, sending a quick message to Alex and Maggie, and they decided to meet later that evening for drinks. Their girl’s nights had turned into a lifeline for Lena; an opportunity to talk to other queer girls who really knew her and didn’t hate her, and an opportunity to talk to people who also loved Kara. Given her current circumstances, it was incredibly important support for her, and she wondered how she could ever give back what Alex and Maggie had given to her since Kara had stormed into her office giving her shit about the paparazzi shots of them together.

 

***

 

The day of the court martial dawned, and Alex had already put together the evidence she had gathered. Kara turned up in her super-suit, sitting next to Alex, something which surprised everyone in the room, including Mon-El, who looked at her in disbelief. Lucy Lane was representing the DEO, and an unknown lawyer was sitting next to Mon-El. He was a scrawny little dude, probably just out of law school, and he looked terrified.

 

The trial, such as it was, did not last long. Mon-El insisted he wasn’t guilty and that Winn had said something awful about Kara. His lawyer had obviously advised him against taking that position, since he knew about the evidence the DEO had, but Mon-El had just as clearly refused.

 

Kara was sitting silently, her arms crossed and her face as stoic as she could manage. Alex touched her arm gently with the edge of her hand, and Kara smiled at her gratefully a few times, but she wasn’t herself, and Alex wasn’t sure what else she could do.

 

When it was time for the DEO to present their evidence, Alex tensed. She knew that this had to be done, but Kara was going to be so hurt. She winced as she switched on the recording, broadcasting it clearly throughout the room.

 

When it reached that fateful line, she heard Kara gasp, dropping her head into her hands.

 

_She’s mine, and I decide how she feels and what she values!_

“I’m so sorry, Kara,” Alex said, under her breath. “I love you.”

 

By the time they had played through the video evidence of Mon-El speaking to J’onn and lying about what he’d done, followed by eyewitness reports from Winn and James, and detailed pictures of Winn’s injuries, Alex could see that even Mon-El had realised he was fucked. He was getting angrier and angrier, and she was worried about what he might do or say, now.

 

The final decision on the matter was given to J’onn’s superior, one of the undersecretaries of Defence. She was a fierce proponent of alien rights, but also a fair woman who did not appreciate misogyny from anyone. She deliberated for ten minutes before returning and dishonourably discharging Mon-El from his position at the DEO. She also put him on probation for a year.

 

“If you are a model citizen for a year, you can become a full-time citizen with the full rights of any human citizen. If you do not, we will consider exile,” the judge said, banging her gavel on the conference table.

 

Mon-El went red and stood, his lawyer trying to get him to sit down. He was shouting at the judge, and she stared him down, knocking her gavel against the tabletop again, calling for order.

 

“Mon-El of Daxam, if you continue with this behaviour, you will be exiled immediately. It is your choice,” she said, face impassive.

 

He sat down abruptly, a puppet with its strings cut. Finally, he’d made the right choice. He sat there until he was escorted out of the room by two burly DEO guards, both from planets with similar powers to Daxamites. He wouldn’t be fighting them to get away, at least. Mon-El was gone from their professional lives, finally. Now, hopefully, he could get the hell out of Kara’s life completely.

 

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Kara whispered, into her hands.

 

“What do you mean, sweetie?” Alex asked, unconsciously echoing her mother with that endearment. It wasn’t usually part of her repertoire. She rubbed Kara’s back as hard as she could, knowing Kara would need to feel it.

 

“He’s living with me, Alex. And I can’t… I can’t talk to him again. Not after…” she gesticulated at the screens, where the video of him lying to J’onn was frozen on the screen.

 

“It’s okay, Kara. We’ll take care of it. Why don’t you go see Lena or something, and I’ll make sure he’s gone by the time you come home. You can call me first to make sure.”

 

“Are you sure?” Kara asked, looking up. Her eyes were streaming with tears.

 

“Yes,” Alex said. “Of course. I’ll take care of it.”

 

And she did. Mon-El was waiting at Kara’s apartment, his head in his hands. Alex, along with J’onn and the two burly guards from the DEO who had turned Mon-El out before, opened the door and stood, waiting.

 

“I’m not leaving. This is my home,” Mon-El said, without looking up.

 

“This is Kara’s home. Bought and paid for by her, and you are officially uninvited. You have a choice, Mon-El. You can pack up whatever you’ve accumulated since you got here and leave voluntarily, or you can make a fuss and you will be back in the DEO’s cells before sundown. And you’ll be exiled from earth 28 days after that. So what’s it gonna be?” Alex asked, pulling out her extra-strong taser from her belt. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would knock him out long enough for him to be properly sedated under red sun lamps.

 

“I’ll go,” he said, eventually. He moved as slowly as he could, and tried to steal several of the more expensive items in Kara’s apartment, but Alex just lifted an eyebrow at him and he put them down with a huff.

 

“She’s going to take me back, you know,” he said, smugly.

 

“Over my dead body,” Alex said, with a smile.

 

“That can be arranged,” he said, smiling back.

 

“Gentlemen, I’m wondering – did you just hear this alien, who is on probation, threatening the life of one of my agents?” J’onn said, almost growling.

 

“I think I heard something like that, sir,” the taller of the two guards said, his eyes swivelling independently of each other.

 

“It wouldn’t be a wise idea, would it, if an alien in that sort of position did make threats, would it?” J’onn asked.

 

“It wouldn’t, sir,” the other alien agreed helpfully. He was short and squat, but around twice the width of a regular human man, all muscle and scaly skin. His people were ferocious fighters, and his eyes were blinking three times as fast as usual, a sure sign of overexcitement.  

 

“I misspoke, gentlemen,” Mon-El said, smiling in what he probably imagined was a charming fashion.

 

“I should hope so,” J’onn said, with a wide smile. “Because if someone were to threaten Alex Danvers or Supergirl, I’m afraid I might be driven to take… extreme measures, to deal with such a person.” His smile was more of a snarl, and Mon-El actually blanched, backing away from him for a moment.

 

Mon-El glared at Alex for a second before dropping his eyes, and then he left the apartment without any further ado. Alex let out a breath, relaxing. She didn’t doubt that he’d be back, but for now, Kara could rest easy. And to make sure she did, Alex was staying here for the next 24 hours at least.

 

“Gentlemen, I will need you to stay here for the night, to ensure Supergirl’s safety. You’ll be relieved at dawn,” J’onn said. Alex nodded gratefully. “If you need me, Alex, call. I’ll be right here.”

 

“I will,” Alex said. She saw the men out, called Maggie to come join her and then she set to cleaning up Kara’s apartment, cleaning the fratboy-stink out of it. She stripped the bed first, after she’d snapped on a pair of gloves from her kit, and then vacuumed the whole place, freshening up everything she could so that Kara would feel at home when she got back. Then Alex ordered some takeout and made herself comfortable on the couch. It was going to be a long night, full of tears, but she was glad that she could finally be here for her sister. Mon-El of Daxam wasn’t going to screw up her little sister’s life, not while Alex Danvers had anything to say about it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the court martial, and some friends from the future turn up to assist when someone tries to hurt our girls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the time when I was writing this fic, I didn't have access to the internet for a couple of weeks, and I didn't know who any of the Legion of Superheroes were. I knew that Mon-El was one of the Legion in canon, so that's where this came from. The Legionnaires here are all my own invention, because I didn't have a clue who they were before Saturn Girl and Valour and Brainiac etc arrived on the show. TW here for violence and threats of non-con.

* * *

 

Lena wasn’t surprised when Jess stuck her head in to her office on the day of Mon-El’s court-martial.

 

“Let me guess, Kara is here?” she asked, sighing.

 

“Yes,” Jess said, puzzled.

 

“Okay, Jess. Send out for some food, will you? You know what she normally eats. And get me one of those burgers from that franchise she introduced me to, will you? Better make that two, actually, in case she wants one of those, too. And cancel the rest of my day,” Lena said. She tidied up her desk automatically, checking that everything was up to date and could be left until she was able to return to the office.

 

“I’ve made the food orders, Miss Luthor. Here’s some coffee to keep you going until then, and there’s fresh lemon water in the decanter,” Jess said.

 

Lena took the hot drink gratefully, taking a mouthful and sighing in satisfaction as she felt the warmth hit her stomach.

 

“Jess, I don’t know what I’d do without you, do you realise that?” Lena said, eyes closed in pleasure.

 

“Let’s hope you never have to find out then, Miss Luthor,” Jess replied archly. Lena opened one eye, raising an eyebrow, and Jess laughed. “That only works on white dudes, Miss Luthor. My mom’s eyebrow game is way better than yours.”

 

“I should have known better than to try to challenge your mother, of all people,” Lena said, sighing dramatically. She laughed as Jess snorted in derision.

 

“One day, I will bring her in here, and you can explain all the late nights to her,” Jess threatened.

 

Lena shivered, and Jess laughed again. It was then that Kara walked in. Her eyes were red, again, and Lena took a deep breath. Clearly the court martial had gone about as well as could be expected.

 

“If you need anything else, call,” Jess said, quietly, leaving with no further comment. Lena set her coffee down on the desk carefully before standing, walking around the desk, and opening her arms. Kara threw herself into them, grasping at Lena, hard, clearly fighting back sobs. Lena held her just as tightly in return, murmuring comforting words in her ear until Kara’s body relaxed.  

 

“Shall we sit, Kara?” Lena asked quietly.

 

Kara nodded, and they went to sit on the couch. Jess came in at the same moment, putting several bags of takeout food on the table in front of them before leaving silently. Lena gestured for Kara to help herself, before searching out the burger from a franchise Kara had mentioned to her a while back. Big Belly burger. It was aptly named, because Lena’s belly looked like it contained twins by the time she finished one. But this was the kind of day when fatty food was necessary, if not essential.

 

Kara was already piling potstickers on top of a saucy concoction mixed with rice – kung pao, Lena thought distantly – and was shoving them into her mouth haphazardly. Lena tried not to watch, but she couldn’t quite help herself. It was a bit like watching a car crash – you didn’t want to, but the mixture of fascination and disgust made it impossible to look away.

 

“So, do you want to talk about it?” Lena asked, when she was halfway through her burger and her stomach was already much happier.

 

“Mmm,” Kara said, around a mouthful of sticky chilli beef. She swallowed, taking a drink from her glass of lemon water, and she turned to look at Lena, adjusting her glasses.

 

“He was… he was discharged. Dishonourably. He’s under… probation, is it? He has to behave or he might get exiled. He wanted to hit the judicar, I could tell, but he realised that he couldn’t get away with it. He lied to J’onn about what happened with Winn. Tried to make it seem like Winn had goaded him into a fight. I mean, J’onn’s a mind-reader, Lena! How stupid is he?”

 

“Oh, wow. So it didn’t go his way then,” Lena said.

 

“No, it really didn’t. Winn… for some reason, he recorded the discussion they were having that night. I don’t know why. But all he said was that Mon-El should be honest with me, because he was flirting with this other woman in the bar, and his attentions clearly weren’t welcome. The woman is Maggie’s ex, for the love of Rao! But he still couldn’t keep his hands to himself, and then when Winn called him on it – politely – he told Winn that I was his and I would think and feel whatever he told me to,” Kara said, voice flat and emotionless.

 

Lena had already heard this from Winn and Alex, so she wasn’t surprised. But she was still… startled, that anyone would think that they had that sort of control over another. Never mind thinking that they _should_ have that kind of control over someone else.

 

“The worst thing is, Lena – I think he was right. The way I’ve been behaving – I think that I actually was allowing him to tell me what I should believe. He kept telling me that I was so selfish, that I was flying around saving people so that they would worship me, and I was… I was starting to believe him.”

 

“Kara, I… you’re the most selfless person I’ve ever met. You saved my life so many times, and I might have been your enemy. There was no glory in that for you, and no-one would have blamed you for staying back in case it was a trap. Saving me was selfless. Saving National City from your own people was selfless. Saving the city from the Daxamites, at the expense of your own love life – that was selfless. Mon-El, Mike, whatever the hell you want to call him – he wouldn’t know what selfless was if it came up and smacked him in the face. I don’t know all of his history but I suspect that he was quite happy to stand back and let other people fight for him, let other people die for him. I can’t imagine you doing the same, not in any circumstances. So fuck Mon-El. Trust _me._ You’re the most selfless person, human or otherwise, that I’ve ever met.”

 

Kara was looking at her, wide-eyed, and if Lena didn’t know better, she’d suspect it was the way a person looked when they were about to kiss another person. It had been a while, but it seemed familiar.

 

“You know I’m Supergirl?” Kara asked, surprising Lena.

 

“Yes,” Lena said calmly. “Almost from the beginning, Kara. I knew you’d tell me when you were ready. If you were ever ready.”

 

“Thank you, Lee. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Kara said, throwing herself forward again, pulling Lena tight against her. Lena let herself relax into the embrace, telling herself it meant nothing, and she rubbed Kara’s back carefully until the other girl let her go.

 

They went back to Lena’s penthouse once Kara had finished demolishing the food Jess had ordered, and they watched a few sci-fi movies, Kara laughing at the scientific inaccuracies as she stuffed three different types of ice-cream into her mouth. Lena watched her, smiling, and hoped that this was a turning point for Kara. Whatever their relationship was or would be in the future, she wanted Kara to be happy, and it was lovely to see her smile after all of this bullshit with the Daxamite.

 

Kara left around 7, looking relaxed and happier than Lena had seen her for months, and Lena went to bed shortly afterwards with a book, passing out before she’d finished the first page. It had been a long day, after all, and emotional exhaustion was worse than physical, sometimes. Her last thought before sleep was of Kara’s lost eyes.

 

***

 

It had been almost 2 weeks since Mon-El’s discharge from the DEO, and he hadn’t been seen since. Kara wasn’t sure what to think about that. He had been so pissed off when he was dismissed, and they hadn’t talked. Kara had been sure he was going to try to find her, try to talk her round, but he hadn’t. She didn’t understand why. She could happily never see him again, after everything he’d said and done, but she didn’t think it would be this simple, and she was on edge as a result.

 

For some reason, Lena was still her friend, though Kara couldn’t quite understand why. She certainly didn’t deserve it. Lena had only ever offered her friendship and support, and Kara had all but called her a predatory bisexual and had made it _so_ clear that she was straight and… she didn’t deserve Lena. Mon-El had tied her up in knots, yes, but that was no excuse. You don’t turn your back on your friends because of a guy. And you certainly didn’t accuse them of becoming your friend so that they can get you into bed.

 

Lena had been mad, and cold, at first, but as soon as Kara apologised and meant it, she was there for Kara, 100%. She was a little stiff, now, when Kara hugged her, and very careful to place her hands in the middle of Kara’s back, no lower and no higher, but she was always there to listen and to care and offer advice. Kara didn’t deserve her, but _Rao,_ did she want to deserve Lena. Without her, Kara wouldn’t have ever been able to see through Mon-El’s bullshit, never mind come out the other side of it.

 

Kara stepped into her office, scanning automatically with her x-ray vision and finding nothing unusual in or around the room. She’d been paranoid since Mon-El’s departure. His mother had so many backup plans, it seemed odd that he wouldn’t. She was still thinking about Rhea when Mon-El flashed into the room, jabbing a Kryptonite needle into her neck, and flashed away again with Kara in his arms.

 

She woke a few hours later in a cavern. She was in a crudely-made cage, naturally, with green lights built into the top and bottom. Kryptonite. She groaned.

 

“Hello, Kara.”

 

It was Mon-El. She sat up, the action straining every muscle. She had to struggle not to vomit.

 

“Mon-El, what are you doing?” she asked, quite mildly, she thought. “Why am I in a Kryptonite cell?”

 

“So I can take care of that Luthor woman without you interfering,” Mon-El said, coldly.

 

“By take care of, I assume you mean kill?” Kara asked, her blood running cold.

 

“Of course. She has no right, Kara. We’re supposed to be together, and she ruined everything!” he shouted, face reddening.

 

“She didn’t ruin anything,” Kara said, wearily. “All she did was be my friend, Mon. You’re the one who nearly killed a human and got yourself discharged from the DEO.”

 

“He deserved that,” Mon-El insisted. “He shouldn’t have talked about you like that.”

 

“I heard the recording, Mon-El. All he said was that you should be honest with me, and he was right. I would rather have know all of the bad things you’ve ever done or thought, as long as you didn’t lie to me. But you did lie. You were trying to get that Roltikkon into bed, and he called you on it, and you almost killed him. You’re not the man I thought you were, Mon, and I don’t want to be with you anymore. Because of the things _you_ did and said, not because of anyone else. It’s on you.”

 

Mon-El crossed his arms, pouting.

 

“You’ll have plenty of time to change your mind, where we’re going,” he said, smugly.

 

“And where is that, exactly?” Kara asked, struggling to stay sitting up. The Kryptonite was draining her life away – he’d set it far too high.

 

“The Phantom Zone,” he said, smiling. “No-one will think to look for us there, and you won’t be able to leave. So you and I will be together forever, and you’ll learn to come round to my way of thinking. You won’t be stronger than me, there.”

 

Kara stared at him. She’d spent 24 years in the nothingness of the Phantom Zone, and now he wanted to imprison her there because she didn’t want to be with him anymore? To force her into doing whatever he wanted? Who _was_ this guy? She had always thought of Mon-El as a sweet, if misguided, young man. She had thought that with a little… guidance, he would realise that he had a destiny as a hero, that he would stand up for others and fight. But it turned out that everything she’d heard about the Prince of Daxam when she was a child was right. He would rather keep her at his side by force than allow her to make her own choices. How had she misjudged him so badly? And what was so wrong with him that he would use his physical strength to overpower her, to take whatever he wanted from her? And now he was going to murder her friend. He was a monster. She had to find some way to escape, to save Lena.

 

“I’ll be back in a while, darling, once I’ve dealt with that Luthor bitch, and then I’ll be back and we can go to our new home. They’ve kept us apart long enough,” he said, smiling in that way she’d always found charming. Now it made her want to throw up.

 

“You’re a monster, Mon-El of Daxam, and if I have to die resisting you, I will,” Kara said, rising to her feet, knees trembling.

 

“You won’t die,” he said, laughing. “You always enjoyed it, before. You will again. And you’ll learn your place, Kara, so I won’t have to punish you anymore. For now, though, you can enjoy some more of this Kryptonite, for your insolence.”

 

He touched something gold on his hand and blinked out of existence. At the same time, the Kryptonite’s effects doubled, and Kara did throw up, then, her body rebelling against the radiation attacking her cells. In a few minutes, she was unconscious, and her last thought was of Lena Luthor.

 

***

 

Lena was working, as always, but she was restless. She had spent the majority of the last few days with Kara, and was expecting to hear from her, as usual, first thing this morning with emoji-riddled texts and pictures of cute kittens and bunnies and puppies. She hadn’t heard a thing, however, and was on the verge of calling Agent Danvers when she heard a thump on her balcony. She smiled, turning.

 

It wasn’t Kara. It was Mon-El of Daxam, wearing a sadistic smile. He had a large gold ring on the middle finger of his right hand, and Lena wondered if he’d always worn it.

 

“Lena Luthor. You know, when I left Earth, I was grateful to you. You saved the Earth from my mother, and Kara was so glad that you were able to save her adopted planet. Now, though, I see you for what you really are. You didn’t have to poison the atmosphere. You’re a genius. You could have come up with another solution. In fact, I’m not sure you weren’t working with my mother from the start. Anything to get Kara to come to your rescue, am I right?”

 

He was toying with a large knife, and Lena suddenly realised that he was here to kill her. She’d always known he was an asshole, but she hadn’t realised he would stoop to murder.

 

“I worked with Rhea because the technology could have changed the world, Mon-El. I don’t share my mother’s views on aliens. And I never intended for your mother to use the portals to bring in a Daxamite army. I didn’t know you _had_ a mother, for Christ’s sake. All I knew was that you were my friend’s boyfriend. I didn’t even know that you were an alien until Supergirl told me.”

 

While she was speaking, she had pressed the panic button under her desk – the one for super-powered or alien threats – and she prayed that Alex would be able to get a team here in time. However, she wasn’t hopeful.

 

“That doesn’t seem very genius-y to me, Luthor. And who knows what you would do to get my girl from me? It took me a while to see it, but I had a long time in the Phantom Zone to realise that you were the reason I was banished from Earth. You were the reason I was separated from Kara. And when I reached the 31st century, I realised that you’d succeeded. You married her, and she never knew what you’d done to me. I knew I couldn’t let it stand, so I played the hero for the Legion until they gave me one of their flight rings, and then I came back to fix things. Kara’s waiting for me, and once I’m done with you, I am taking her to the Phantom Zone with me. No-one will ever think to look for us there, and she won’t be able to fight me anymore, because she won’t have her powers. And you’ll be long dead, Lena Luthor, when our children – Kara’s and mine - come back to colonise this planet and destroy everything you and your family ever made.”

 

He was advancing on her, now, and Lena couldn’t help but back up a little, moving her chair away. He was crazy. He thought that killing her was a good deed, and that taking Kara into the Phantom Zone, the place where she’d been trapped, alone, was for her own good. What had happened to him in there? Did the place do something to the minds trapped in there? It hadn’t seemed to damage Kara too badly, but then Kara had been in stasis, mostly, during her time there. Or so Alex had told her.

 

“Mon-El, you… you can’t take Kara back there. She was trapped there for so long. Please. I know you’re going to kill me anyway, but please, find somewhere else to hide. Don’t make her stay somewhere like that, where she’ll be terrified. Please. She doesn’t deserve that,” Lena begged, holding her hands up imploringly.

 

He stared at her in surprise, and for a moment Lena thought she might have gotten through to him. But then his face went blank again, and he sneered.

 

“As if I’d trust anything you had to say, human. You’re not worthy of her, and I’m tired of this conversation.”

 

He backhanded her, and the force of it caused her chair to roll back into the glass window behind her, cracking it. He’d broken her cheekbone, she was pretty sure, and something was wrong with her eye. She tried to move, but she couldn’t, not without groaning, so she just waited, praying that someone would come in time. But mostly she just thought of Kara, the poor girl being stuck with this sick man for an eternity in a place where she was terrified, and she prayed fervently that someone would stop Mon-El.

 

He stabbed her in the chest, grunting, and she felt the blade hit her shoulder-blade from the inside. She screamed hoarsely, and then there were flashes of light all around the office, and Mon-El was being restrained by two outlandishly-dressed young men. She tried to move, but her breath was bubbling in her chest, and she coughed, spitting up blood.

 

A young woman appeared in front of her, hair spiked and dyed a metallic blue. Lena took a moment to admire the colour as she began to drift out of consciousness.

 

“Miss Luthor, I’m going to fix you right up,” the girl said cheerfully. “This is going to hurt, though.”

 

She pulled the knife from Lena’s chest, and Lena tried to scream, but she had no breath. She was almost gone, then – she could feel something pulling her up and away from her body – but her chest warmed up suddenly, almost burning, and suddenly she could see again. She was healed. She blinked, staring at the young woman, who smiled at her.

 

“There you are. All better. Sorry we didn’t get here sooner. Time travel isn’t always as predictable as we’d like,” the girl said, smiling. Lena returned the smile, bemused.

 

“Where is Kara Zor-El?” one of the visitors was demanding, shaking his fist in Mon-El’s face.

 

“You’ll never find her. And with all the Kryptonite I left, she won’t last long,” Mon-El said, smugly.

 

“J’onn can read his mind,” Lena said. “Do you mind if I call him?” she asked, looking around at her visitors. They were all dressed in primary colours, and the fashions they wore were garish, by current standards.

 

“The Green Martian? Please, do call him,” the taller of the two young men holding Mon-El said, smiling.

 

Lena nodded, picking up her cell, and she called Alex.

 

“I’m two minutes away, Lena.”

 

“Good,” Lena said. “We need J’onn here, too. Is he with you?”

 

“Yes,” Alex confirmed tersely.

 

“Okay. I have some visitors here, Alex, but they’re friends. They saved me from Mon-El. Please have your people control themselves.”

 

“Sure, Lena. Are you safe?” Alex asked, sounding worried.

 

“Yes. I promise. But Kara isn’t, not yet, so get J’onn here, okay?”

 

Lena didn’t hear Alex’s answer, putting her phone on the desk absent-mindedly.

 

“Can I ask who you are?” she asked, looking around at her five visitors. The young woman who had healed her, the two young men, one person of a reptilian-alien background, and one shadow-wrapped figure that she couldn’t see clearly enough to work out gender or race.

 

“Of course,” the young woman said. “We’re from the Legion of Superheroes, an organisation set up in line with the principles Superman and Supergirl set, back here in your time. We are here to help, as you probably gathered. Unfortunately, when we found Mon-El in the Phantom Zone, we believed him. We don’t have a resident telepath at the moment, but believe me when I say that we will have one on call at all times from now on. We misjudged him rather badly.”

 

The girl introduced herself as Alaxa, the taller of the two men as Anraz, and the shorter as Ekh. The reptilian was called Hanza, and the shadow was aptly named ‘Shadow’.

 

“Thank you all for saving me,” Lena said, smiling at her visitors. “I don’t know how your tech works, or how you ended up here, but you saved my life, and hopefully we’ll be able to save Kara, too.”

 

“If we hadn’t saved you, Miss Luthor, our organisation would cease to exist, as would the future that we know. We should be thanking you,” Alaxa said warmly.

 

“Well, I don’t know what I did - or am going to do – to deserve your thanks, but please know that you have my gratitude. If there is anything I can offer you in return, if it’s within my power, please just let me know.”

 

“Of course, Miss Luthor,” Anraz said.

 

Alex and J’onn stepped through the door at that moment, and J’onn wasted no time in reading Mon-El’s mind. The Daxamite thrashed around in protest, but J’onn was merciless, his eyes burning red.

 

“I have her location. But I think I’m going to need your assistance, given that I can’t travel through time,” J’onn said, nodding at the Legion members in Lena’s office.

 

“Of course. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Ekh said, shaking J’onn’s hand. “Take my arm, and we’ll go get her.”

 

They blinked out of sight, and Mon-El took that as his cue to begin struggling against Anraz’s grip. Alex turned and, pulling a taser from her belt, zapped him. He groaned, collapsing to the floor. She pulled some handcuffs from her belt and cuffed him roughly.

 

Alaxa looked at her curiously.

 

“Are those Nth metal handcuffs?” she asked, and Alex turned, smiling.

 

“They are. They’re the only things that will contain this shithead.”

 

“Well done, Agent Danvers. Our Legion rings are made from Valorium, which is a derivative of Nth metal,” the girl said, flashing the ring that sat on the middle finger of her right hand. “If I may say, Agent Danvers, you’re even more impressive in person,” Alaxa said.

 

Alex smiled at the young Superhero.

 

“Coming from a superhero, I’m going to take that as a compliment,” she said, grinning.

 

At that moment, J’onn and Ekh zipped back into view, carrying a half-conscious Kara between them.

 

“Come on,” Ekh said, gesticulating at Alaxa. “She needs to be healed.”

 

“She’ll be okay, if she gets long enough under a sun bed,” Alex said, absently.

 

“I know, but I get to tell people that I healed Supergirl,” Alaxa said, grinning widely.

 

“Fine, but if you hurt her…” Alex trailed off, giving one of her patented death looks.

 

The young superhero approached Kara, touching her face gently, and then she put her palm flat on Kara’s chest. A bright light emanated from beneath her palm, and Kara began to look better immediately.

 

“I need more power,” the girl said, absently, holding her other hand out awkwardly behind her. Her compatriots made a circle, holding hands, linking with hers, and the light increased. A few seconds later, Kara was sitting up, her face almost glowing.

 

“Mon-El?!” she said, groggily, looking at the bound man on the floor. She stood up unsteadily. “You... where’s Lena? Oh Rao, he’s going to kill Lena!”

 

She spun around in a circle and stopped when she saw Lena sitting on a chair that was covered in blood, her shirt stained crimson right above her heart.

 

“No, no, he can’t… please, help me, someone,” Kara cried, throwing herself at Lena’s feet.

 

“I’m fine, Kara,” Lena said, touching Kara’s face gently. “He hurt me. He tried to kill me, but these amazing young heroes saved my life. This one in particular,” Lena said, trying to turn Kara to look at Alaxa. Kara, however, would not be moved, her eyes on Lena’s, wide and desperate. Terrified.

 

“I’m okay, Kara,” Lena repeated, stroking Kara’s hair. “I’m here and I’m safe.”

 

Kara sat there, staring, for at least another minute before Alex approached her, pulling her up and into a hug.

 

“I told you not to go getting yourself killed again,” Alex said, into Kara’s hair. Kara murmured something, and they both laughed. Lena relaxed back into her bloody chair, trying to take in everything that had happened that day.

 

“We should go,” Alaxa said, after a moment of quiet. “Mon-El belongs in jail, and we need to get him as far away from you both as possible.”

 

She was looking at Kara and Lena, and Lena just nodded wearily. Kara watched silently.

 

“You think he will come back after us – after Lena – again?” Kara asked, after a moment’s thought.

 

“I think if he’s given the opportunity, yes. But he’s going into the deepest, darkest hole we can find for him in the 31st century. And the only reason he isn’t dead right now is because we’re with him. He is still allergic to lead, and without a flight ring or another way to keep himself safe, he can’t come to earth in this century. I give you my word, Kara Zor-El, that I will keep him as far from you and your lady as I can. I pledge this on behalf of all of us, the Legion of Super-heroes. If you ever have need of us, please, use this. Think our names and we will come to you. And if you are in desperate need, think of a time, and the ring will take you to that time. The ring will heal you from anything that might harm you, and it also grants the gift of flight to those who don’t have it. If you want to share it with someone else in future, be sure that it’s someone you trust. Someone whose heart you really know,” Alaxa said, handing over a heavy gold ring that she took from a pocket.

 

“Wow. Thank you,” Kara said, shaking her head in disbelief. “But I… I didn’t do anything to deserve this.”

 

“You will, a million times over, Supergirl. Just keep your friends close, and look out for people like Mon-El of Daxam in future. He seemed good to us at first, too. Trust your friends and family. If they don’t like someone, or warm to them, there’s a reason,” Alaxa said.

 

“Thank you,” Kara said.

 

Lena stood, unsteadily, and held her hand out to Alaxa.

 

“Thank you. For the unexpected help. I don’t know why you would come back in time to save someone like me, but I can’t say I’m not grateful. To all of you,” she said, nodding at the other Legion members. They nodded respectfully in response.

 

“You underestimate yourself, Miss Luthor,” Alaxa said, smiling. “We are your friends, have no doubt. Be good to one another.”

 

The Legion members – and Mon-El – disappeared in a flash of light, and Lena sank back into her chair.

 

“Wow,” Alex said, after a moment of stunned silence.

 

“Yeah,” Lena agreed, nodding.

 

“I have heard of the Legion before – Superman has one of their rings, too. But for them to intervene so directly – they must think a lot of you, Miss Luthor,” J’onn said, in his deep voice. He sounded impressed.

 

“Well, I can’t say I understand what it is they see in me, but I’m glad they saved me. And Mon-El was clearly using them for his own ends, so it makes sense that they would come here,” Lena said.

 

“You just can’t take a compliment, can you, Luthor?” Alex said, under her breath. Lena shot her a filthy look, and Alex chuckled.

 

“Come on. Let’s get you both back to the DEO and get you checked out,” Alex said, holding a hand out to pull Lena from her chair. Lena took it and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.

 

“Kara?” Alex said, making Kara jump. She’d been standing still, staring at the ring in her hand.

 

“Yeah, sorry Alex. Coming.”

 

They made their way past Lena’s startled second assistant, Hector, and she told him to cancel the rest of her day as Alex linked arms with her, half-carrying her to the elevator. He nodded, eyes wide, and Lena slumped against the wall of the elevator as the doors closed.

 

“Are you okay, Luthor?” Alex asked.

 

“Yes, of course,” Lena said. “Another day, another murder attempt. Must be Tuesday.”

 

“Yeah. Sure, Lena. You keep telling yourself that,” Alex said, shaking her head.

 

The car journey was short, and the DEO doctor was efficient.

 

“Stay off your feet for a few days, Miss Luthor. Your wounds might have been healed, but you still lost a lot of blood. I’m sure you’re feeling the effects of that even now.”

 

Lena nodded. She was feeling the effects – she was shaking and weak. And Kara hadn’t spoken a word to her since Mon-El disappeared off into the future.

 

“Thank you, doctor,” Lena said, and she made her way shakily to where she’d seen Alex and Kara last, in what must have been their command centre.

 

“So, you doing okay, Luthor?” Alex asked, looking at her shrewdly.

 

“Yes. I’m fine. Nothing to worry about,” Lena said dismissively.

 

“You know I can look at your records any time, right?” Alex asked.

 

“I should have gone to a regular hospital,” Lena muttered.

 

“Yeah, good luck explaining to them that you were stabbed and the wound magically disappeared,” Alex said, snorting.

 

“I’m fine, really. I just need to take a few days off. To be honest, I think I’m actually going to take the doctor’s advice, this time. I have to admit, Mon-El… what he did? What he was going to do, to Kara? It shook me up a little.”

 

“What was he going to do?” Alex asked, eyes narrowed.

 

“She didn’t tell you?”

 

“She’s barely said a word,” Alex said, brow furrowed.

 

Lena told her, briefly, what Mon-El had said. That he was going to hide Kara in the Phantom Zone, where she couldn’t fend him off.

 

“He didn’t say it outright, but I think the implication was clear. Her being stronger than him – that was something he saw as an obstacle,” Lena said.

 

Alex’s jaw was tight, and her fists were clenching spasmodically.

 

“If I’d known that before, I would never have let them take him. I’d have killed him myself.”

 

“If I had the power, I would have killed him right there and then,” Lena said. “But I didn’t. It’s… tiring, to feel this powerless all the time.”

 

“Then don’t. Fight back, Luthor. Learn how to fight, and take them all down. I do this for Kara mostly, but the other part of me just wants to know that I can fight back. That I can stand up against people who want to hurt me and others. If you want, I’ll teach you,” Alex said earnestly.

 

Lena’s eyes filled with tears.

 

“Thank you, Alex. I really appreciate the offer. I might even take you up on it.”

 

Lena turned, looking around for an exit.

 

“Where are you going, Lena?” Alex asked, touching her shoulder gently.

 

“I was going to go home. It’s been a long day. And now I know Kara’s safe, I don’t feel bad about leaving her.”

 

“You don’t want to stay with her?” Alex asked.

 

“I don’t want to give her the wrong idea,” Lena said, pressing her fingertips against her burning eyes.

 

“Jesus, Lena. She won’t think anything like that. It was all him, that shit. Now that he’s gone, you can go back to how you were before.”

 

“There is no going back, Alex,” Lena said, still rubbing at her eyes. “I’ll never feel like I can just touch her, in case she thinks I’m trying to make a move on her. If she pulled away, or if she ever… I just know that I couldn’t bear that, not again.”

 

Alex was looking at her with sympathy.

 

“I understand, Lena. Thanks for staying this long. I’ll get an agent to take you home.”

 

The agent in question, Susan Vasquez, was a short-haired, stocky woman with military bearing and a naturally stoic nature. Lena was glad of the quiet.

 

When they were almost at her building, Vasquez spoke, startling Lena.

 

“You know, Kara, she’s… I always thought of her like she was my little sister. She as all puppies and sunshine, and even thought I usually fucking _hate_ that shit, I couldn’t help but like her. And then love her. She is just the sweetest thing. When Maggie told me what she’d said to you, I was horrified. I am sure it’s not the first time you’ve heard shit like that – it isn’t for most of us. But I still… I couldn’t believe it was _Supergirl_ saying that, you know? Whatever her faults, she’s a good person. And the idea that she would say it about you – after all the time and energy she spent defending you – I just didn’t get it. It was Mon-El who messed her up – he used her weaknesses against her. He found her insecurities and he dug his asshole fingernails in there and he made her feel like shit about herself, then he went about demolishing the rest of her relationships, too, so all she had was him. I’ve seen it happen before, with so many of my girlfriends. I never thought she would fall for it, but I guess you never really know, do you? Just because she can throw him into space doesn’t mean she’s not as emotionally vulnerable as anyone else.”

 

Lena stared, startled.

 

“I suppose you’re right, Agent Vasquez. Thank you.”

 

The car rolled to a stop outside the building, and Vasquez insisted on accompanying her to her penthouse and checking every room before she left her alone.

 

“I don’t do talking as a general rule, Miss Luthor, but if you ever want to talk to a fellow queer person, you can give me a call. We’ll get a beer.”

 

Lena took the proffered card and nodded, puzzled by the turn her day had taken. She took off her shoes and let down her hair, making her way to the bathroom where she had a long, hot shower. When she got out, she dressed in her most comfortable pyjamas and used an app to order takeout, and she sent an email to Hector to confirm that she wouldn’t be in for the rest of the week. She didn’t feel like talking to anyone – she’d had more than her fill of human interaction for one day. When the food arrived, she settled down on the couch to watch reruns of Star Trek: Voyager, an old favourite. A few hours later she was eating ice cream and grumbling to herself about how Janeway and Seven should have been together, and that’s when she heard boots on her balcony.

 

“Lena?”

 

It was Kara’s voice. Lena had tensed, immediately, upon hearing someone landing on the balcony, flashing back to that morning and Mon-El’s less than pleasant visit.

 

“Come in,” she said, quietly.

 

Kara stepped in to the room soundlessly, and she sat next to Lena on the couch. Her head was down, staring at her hands, and after a moment’s silence, Lena wondered why she’d bothered coming if she was just going to sit there like a primary-coloured lump.

 

Lena waited for a moment more before sighing.

 

“Kara, did you need something?”

 

Kara looked up, a hurt look crossing her face.

 

“Did you… did you not want me here?” Kara asked.

 

“If you want to be here, that’s fine, Kara. Just… don’t sit there like a lump. Either talk, or relax. One or the other.”

 

Lena regretted her snappy words almost immediately, but she had run out of patience.

 

“I’m sorry. I just… I wanted to see you.”

 

“Well, here I am,” Lena said, gesticulating at herself with an ice-cream covered spoon. “Do you want some food?”

 

Kara looked at her sharply, and Lena almost laughed.

 

“In the refrigerator. There’s potstickers and lo mein and a number of other favourites.”

 

“No, they’re not my favourites. _You’re_ my favourite!” Kara said, smiling widely. She disappeared in a whirlwind, and when Lena turned her head she could just make out a blur of colour zipping around in her kitchen. She shook her head, smiling, and went back to her ice cream.

 

“Do you mind if I change?” Kara asked, setting down her steaming hot food on Lena’s coffee table.

 

“Of course not. You know where I keep my ‘Kara’ clothes,” Lena said, smiling at Kara’s delighted grin. She zipped out and was back before Lena could breathe in again. She’d never get used to Kara using her powers right in front of her.

 

“So, did the doc give you a clean bill of health?” Lena asked, as Kara tore into her food with abandon.

 

“Mmm-hmm. I’m fine. The Kryptonite is gone from my body. According to Alex, you came off worse. You better take the next few days off, Lena Luthor, or so help me I will build a superhero lair and imprison you there until your blood count is back to normal,” Kara said, teasingly.

 

Some part of Lena thrilled at the idea of Kara whisking her off to a secret lair, but another part of her stiffened at Kara’s easy familiarity. Lena was still more than a little skittish about being alone with Kara, let alone being so free with touch and smiles.

 

“I have already contacted the office. I won’t be going back in until the beginning of next week at the earliest,” Lena said.

 

“Good,” Kara said, nodding. She stuffed several potstickers in her mouth and Lena couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

 

They didn’t speak much that night, Kara becoming quickly absorbed by Star Trek: Voyager, and they enjoyed each other’s company in mostly-comfortable silence. Lena was relieved, nonetheless, when Kara left, giving her a long hug. Lena couldn’t help it, she flinched away, and she caught Kara’s hurt look, but she couldn’t help it. Kara had hurt her, and some hurts just took longer to heal than others.

 

Kara shot her a sad smile before leaving, eyes flickering back to Lena a few times before she took off. Lena closed the balcony door and set the alarm, going to bed and cuddling with her stuffed tiger, Hugo. She’d rather have been cuddling a person, but she was beginning to wonder if she would ever find anyone to love. She’d never really thought it was possible that Kara would like her, and this debacle with Mon-El had just made that doubly clear. It was time for Lena to move on. Maybe she should start dating again. She hadn’t been clubbing for a long time.

 

If she thought about dark blue eyes as she drifted off to sleep, well, there was no-one to know but her, was there?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena takes some time to heal, and Kara has a conversation with a friend who sets her straight - so to speak - about her actions and who she had hurt.

* * *

It had been four days, and Lena hadn’t voluntarily contacted her, not even once. Kara was used to being the one who made the invitations in their relationship; she was well aware of Lena’s difficulty in reaching out, in maintaining friendships, and so had decided a long time back to make things easier for Lena by inviting her to as many things as possible. But Lena had started reciprocating, and she wasn’t currently working, because she’d taken the time off to recuperate from the blood loss Mon-El caused. Kara sighed unhappily.

 

Mon-El had stabbed Lena. He had stabbed her, fully intending to kill her, because he had some bullshit idea that Lena had wanted him to be banished from Earth. Kara figured there was more to the story, but Lena hadn’t wanted to talk about it when Kara went by the other night, and she was replying to messages with one-word answers. Kara had flown by her apartment a few times, so she knew that Lena was okay. Physically. So why the radio silence? Why now?

 

Kara landed at the DEO, looking around to see if there was any Supergirl business for her to take care of. Vasquez was running the command centre, and she just shook her head when Kara asked, frowning. There was another person who Kara couldn’t work out. Vasquez had always been nice to her, but now she was giving Kara the cold shoulder too. She couldn’t figure it out.

 

“Did I do something to upset you, Agent Vasquez?” Kara burst out, without thinking.

 

“Yes ma’am,” Vasquez said flatly, eyes on the screens in front of her.

 

“Would you mind telling me what I did?” Kara asked, quietly.

 

“Not at all, ma’am,” Vasquez said. She took out her earpiece and told one of the other agents, Donnelly, to take over for her.

 

She walked Kara to an empty office nearby, sitting down and crossing one leg over the other. She was glaring.

 

“Clearly I did something really stupid, because I can’t imagine that you would be mad at me without good reason, Agent Vasquez. If you feel like telling me, I would appreciate the opportunity to make it right,” Kara said, sitting down and smoothing her cape off to one side. She had a feeling this was about what she’d said to Lena.

 

“Okay, Supergirl. But remember, you asked.”

 

Kara nodded.

 

“What you said to Miss Luthor, Supergirl? That bullshit about how her ‘lifestyle’ was a reason for her to be followed by paparazzi, how you weren’t ‘like’ that? You made her feel ashamed of who she is. You made _me_ feel ashamed, too. You also hurt your sister, even though she probably hasn’t said anything. You might think that the things you said were mild, but you’re _Supergirl._ You don’t get to make mistakes like that. A queer kid growing up and hearing that might just go and kill themselves. A queer adult hearing that from someone as good and kind as Supergirl is supposed to be, they might lose hope that there could ever be anything better for them, that they’d ever find someone to love. So yes, Supergirl, you have done something to upset me. You hurt a fellow queer person by saying ignorant bullshit because your boyfriend got upset and because you were too fucking into him to realise that he wasn’t the person you thought he was. I’ve seen it happen with so many of my friends, falling in love with a guy who isn’t good enough for them.  And I’ve seen the guys control them, manipulate them into behaving the way they want. But I thought you were different, Kara. I thought you were stronger than that, stronger than some guy telling you what you should think. And you know what the worst thing is? I read the mission reports, and Mon-El found out in the future that you and Miss Luthor were _married_ – that’s what sent him over the edge. You were supposed to be a couple, and marry, and that was part of the future those kid superheroes came here to defend. But I think that’s the part you fucked up all by yourself.”

 

Kara stared at her, eyes wide and filled with tears. It took her a moment to compose herself. Vasquez politely looked away, handing her a handkerchief to wipe her eyes with.

 

“I know apologies aren’t going to cut it, Susan. You’re absolutely right. I let his opinions be more important than mine, partly because I was so guilty about what happened with the Daxamites, and partly because I loved him and I wanted to make him happy. But I never should have let him get into my head like that. I don’t believe for one minute that gay people, or any other part of the LGBTQ+ acronym, are worth less than heterosexuals. I don’t, not even a little. I hope that you know that I don’t. But I screwed up, and I said things that probably shouldn’t be forgiven. I only hope that… I hope that I can win back your faith, Susan, one day. I don’t deserve Lena, but I hope that one day she’ll allow me to be her friend again. And as for what I did, how I hurt you and Alex and Maggie and Lena and everyone else who heard about it? I’m going to try to do as much as I can to make up for it. Thank you for taking the time to talk to me – I know you didn’t have to. If there’s anything I can do to thank you, please let me know.”

 

Kara stood, and Vasquez stood with her. She unexpectedly reached out to take Kara’s hand and shake it.

 

“I’m going to hold you to that, ma’am,” she said, nodding.

 

“Please, do,” Kara said, holding Susan’s eyes for a long moment. She turned and ran, flying out of the nearest window as fast as she safely could. She reached the Fortress of Solitude in a short time and let herself in, sitting down for a long talk with her uncle Jor-El about sexualities on Krypton. It was time she educated herself about her world, and about this one, and put right some of what she’d messed up.

 

It was a few hours later when she returned home, exhausted. She sent Lena a short message before bed, just saying that she was sorry for everything and that she hoped Lena was okay. But her last thought before sleep was that she and Lena would have been _married,_ had Mon-El not returned. Her heart hurt from that realisation more than she could adequately explain or understand.

 

***

 

It had been a few days since Lena had returned to work, and while Kara had texted her often during her days off, she finally took the hint from the short responses. She left Lena to her own devices, sending a text every now and then with something to make Lena smile or just to say hello.

 

After her talk with Vasquez, Kara had apologised profusely to Maggie and Alex, and they seemed to take it on board in the spirit in which it was meant. She’d explained how much Mon-El messed with her head, but she told them that she wasn’t excusing herself. No matter why she’d said those things, she shouldn’t have, because she didn’t feel that way at all.

 

Alex smiled at her through tears, and Maggie gave her a hug and called her “Little Danvers,” and that seemed to be that. But Kara was pissed at herself, and she decided to make it her mission to let LGBT people of all ages know that they were loved. She started off small, visiting a shelter in downtown National City that catered specifically for queer kids who had been thrown out by their families. Then she consulted Cat Grant, who gave her a few other ideas, and she implemented those straight away, joining the boards of several LGBT charities and agreeing to take on some fundraising responsibilities, all as Supergirl. The last idea was an interview scheduled for Pride month – an interview with Supergirl.

 

“Exclusive interview with National City’s hero in honour of Pride Month!” the headline read.

 

Kara was relieved to see the issue when it came out on newsstands. She didn’t expect anything from Lena other than friendship – hell, she didn’t even deserve friendship – but she hoped that Lena would see the interview as the heartfelt apology it was.

 

_“On Krypton, I was a little young to be married, but the match had already been agreed. Our matches – our marriages – were mostly arranged, both for compatibility and for the good of the House. My house was allied with a smaller one, and my match was to be the eldest daughter of the House of Zon. Like so many of my memories of my home, I had completely forgotten that. A while ago, I said something unpleasant to a friend, and insinuated that I thought that person’s sexuality was in some way wrong or dirty. I wasn’t brought up that way, either on Krypton or on Earth, and that is not what I stand for, nor is it what I believe. I have never been more ashamed of my own actions. I hope that the person I hurt will understand that I, like anyone else, can make mistakes, but that I also acknowledge that coming from Supergirl, those mistakes can be more hurtful than if they came from someone else. So I’m here, telling you, the people of National City, that your Supergirl is bisexual and proud, and that I will never tolerate homophobia from anyone, least of all myself. People of the LGBTQIA+ community – you are_ my _people, and I will stand with you against anyone who holds up a hand to hurt you, or says a word to wound you.”_

 

She said nothing when she landed at the DEO that morning, but she caught Susan Vasquez’s eye, and the Agent nodded at her respectfully before returning to her screen. Alex thanked Kara for what she’d said, just before she kicked the shit out of her in the depower room, and a number of other agents gave her smiles or nods before the end of the day.

 

The one person she didn’t hear from was Lena, and while she was disappointed, she wasn’t surprised. One apology, no matter how grand, wouldn’t make up for what she’d said back then, or the venom with which she’d said it.

 

That evening, Kara was busy making a vow to her potstickers that she would never, ever allow herself to be influenced by someone like Mon-El again, when someone knocked at the door. It appeared to be a walking bunch of flowers.

 

She shot over to the door, pulling it open, and was delighted to find Lena’s face lost among the plumerias.

 

“Lena! It’s so nice to see you! Please, come in?” Kara said, stepping back.

 

“These are for you, Kara,” Lena said, setting them down on the table. She stripped off her coat and hung it behind the door.

 

“Can I get you something?” Kara asked.

 

“Wine?” Lena asked, smiling. Her smile gave Kara butterflies. She wondered why she’d never noticed that before. She pulled out a good bottle from her small supply, opening it carefully before pouring a glass.

 

They sat on the couch and Lena kicked off her shoes, leaning back.

 

“I came to thank you,” she said, after a moment’s silence.

 

“No, Lena. You don’t owe me any thanks,” Kara said. “I could apologise for the rest of my life and I still wouldn’t deserve your forgiveness.”

 

“You don’t earn forgiveness, Kara. It’s a gift, to be freely given, or not,” Lena said, shaking her head.

 

“That sounds like something Alex would say,” Kara said, smiling.

 

“Alex is a smart woman,” Lena said, smiling back. Kara felt those butterflies flutter in her belly again.

 

“You read the article, then?” Kara asked.

 

“I did. You never told me about your engagement on Krypton,” Lena said, eyes on Kara’s.

 

“I never told anyone,” Kara said, ducking her head. “That’s part of the reason why I was so incredibly ashamed, after what I said. When I remembered what my parents had arranged for me. Because… because I’m not straight. I never considered myself to be straight, it was all of the stuff that Mon-El kept saying to me. He was putting so much pressure on me, and I let him… I let him win. I’m not saying that it wasn’t me saying those things, because it was me. It was me, and it’s not like he forced me with Kryptonite bullets or anything. But he just… I was so muddled, and under so much pressure… Anyway. Not even Alex knew about who I was supposed to marry. My intended… she died with everyone else on Krypton, and I just buried it right in the back of my mind. I don’t know if I even thought about her between then and, well, now. It was easier to supress it all than remember all the little things. And I guess marriage seemed like a distant thing, at 13 years old.”

 

“But you did think about her, and you did talk about it. You told the whole world, Kara. So that you could apologise to me. You told the world something incredibly private, something that you probably didn’t want to dredge up from the world you lost. Something that meant _everything_ to you, just so that you could say you were sorry. Why would you do that?” Lena asked, brow creased.

 

“You deserve it, Lena. You deserve the truth. And if it took something like this, like giving away a part of who I used to be to the world? Then you’re worth it,” Kara said, eyes wide and sincere. “I don’t deserve your friendship, not after everything, but I hope that we can be friendly, at least, in time?”

 

Lena laughed quietly. “Kara. Friendship is a little like forgiveness. It’s a gift, too. Freely given. And you have my friendship, always. I saw what Mon-El did to you. I saw how much he hurt you, how much he messed with your head. And that’s why I forgave you as soon as you apologised. As soon as I knew that you really were sorry. I’m here for you, for whatever you need.”

 

“Did Mon-El tell you why he came back here?” Kara asked, in a small voice.

 

“He said a lot of things. I can’t say I recall them all. Usually I have a great memory, but being stabbed and almost dying can mess with your brain a little,” Lena said, chuckling.

 

Kara winced. Seeing Lena in that chair, with the bloodstains on her shirt and on the material? It had terrified her.

 

“Yeah. I would imagine it would,” Kara said, weakly.

 

“Are you okay, Kara?” Lena asked, leaning forward and touching her knee gently. The touch burned through the soft material of her PJs.

 

“I’m fine, yeah. I’m just so sorry about everything. I screwed up so bad, and I think he won because of it. He got what he wanted, and we… well. We get to be friends, and that’s amazing,” Kara said, plastering a smile on her face.

 

Lena smiled back, looking a little puzzled, but she let it go, and after sneakily stealing one of Kara’s potstickers, they settled in to watch Big Little Lies, wrapped up together under one blanket. Even though Lena was careful not to let their bodies touch, it was the most comfortable Kara had felt for a really long time.

 

***

 

Lena began to train with Alex, and it wasn’t long before she was back in the swing of things. As a teenager, she’d done a lot of martial arts, but she’d dropped them when her school schedule got too crazy. So she had a solid grounding for more combat training, and Alex nodded at her with respect more than a few times during each session.

 

“So, she really gave you that nod? The ‘Alex Danvers is impressed’ nod?” Kara asked, at the end of a long week of training for Lena, and a long week of fighting over a hundred bounty hunter clones for Kara.

 

“She did. I nearly fell over my own feet. You told me you’ve only had the nod, what? Twice?” Lena said, chuckling.

 

“Yes. Exactly. Twice, and no more, and that’s so not fair that she thinks you’re a better fighter than I am!” Kara protested around a large mouthful of ice cream.

 

“Well, what can I say? I am a Luthor after all, Kara. We have hidden talents,” Lena said, winking. Kara choked on her ice cream. Lena snorted.

 

“You certainly do,” Kara agreed, after a moment of choking.

 

“And you Kryptonians clearly need to learn how to eat and breathe at the same time,” Lena pointed out.

 

Kara laughed, reddening.

 

“So, do you want to come spar with Supergirl this weekend? We can fight in the depower room?” Kara asked, hopefully.

 

“I would love to. There aren’t many people who can say they’ve sparred on equal ground with a superhero,” Lena agreed.

 

***

 

Lena sent a message to Vasquez, Alex and Maggie the following day, asking them if they felt like a drink that night. They all replied in the affirmative, and ended up at the alien bar. Lena found the place fascinating. So many species in such a small space, all clustered together, frantically trying to find somewhere to belong on this alien planet.

 

“So, you all read the article, I take it?” Lena asked, sipping delicately at the surprisingly good merlot the barmaid, Darla, had brought them.

 

“I did,” Vasquez replied. “I talked to Kara a while back. She asked me if I was pissed at her, and I told her I was. So we talked and I made it clear that she had some work to do to make up for what she said to you, and for the people she hurt as a consequence.”

 

“That explains all the apologising,” Maggie said thoughtfully. “I didn’t expect the ‘Supergirl is bi’ reveal, though.”

 

“Neither did I,” Alex said, sinking a shot of whiskey. “And I’ve known her since she was 12.”

 

“I suppose it’s like she said,” Vasquez said, quietly. “She was trying so hard not to be alien, different, that she hid anything that made her stand out from the average human. Being queer definitely counts as different to most of the morons out there.”

 

 Lena sipped her wine, considering.

 

“How do you feel about it now, Lena?” Vasquez asked.

 

“About which part?” Lena asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“About the apology. And the bisexuality of it all.”

 

Lena spread her hands in a sort-of shrug. “I told her that I forgive her, and I do. It’s not like any of us has to look too hard at those around us to see this sort of manipulation going on. It doesn’t surprise me too much that Kara was susceptible to it. I mean, I’m not saying she’s naïve; that’s not it at all. But she tries so hard to believe in people. He used that against her. I still get angry sometimes when I think about it, but in a lot of ways she’s the victim here as much as I am. I’m just… I’m glad I get the opportunity to decide whether I can forgive her or not. If Mon-El was still here, I would never have had that freedom. He would have continued to poison her and I would have had to give up on her eventually.”

 

“Do you think she wouldn’t have snapped out of it on her own?” Alex asked, eyes troubled.

 

“I don’t honestly know. I mean, you’ve met my mother. Even now, I sometimes think if I could just get a little of her approval, see a little pride on her face – I might be swayed. And that’s coming from someone who abhors everything she stands for. Sometimes we are too easily led by our emotions. So who knows?”

 

They all looked troubled for a moment, but then Vasquez spoke again.

 

“So, you didn’t say anything about the fact that she’s bi,” she said, one eyebrow up, an overdone salacious look on her face.

 

“Oh, stop it,” Lena said, chuckling. “I think we can all say that, objectively, Kara is a very beautiful woman, and in other circumstances perhaps we would be having a different conversation.”

 

“But now?” Maggie asked, tilting her head in that way of hers, that made you feel both supported and annoyed, because who smiles when they’re talking about stuff like this?

 

“But now,” Lena replied, “we have all of this stuff between us. She hugs me and I have to work not to flinch away. Sometimes I don’t quite manage it, and she looks at me like I’ve broken her heart. And I think, well, you broke mine first. I don’t know if a person can ever get past that. What do you think?” she asked, looking round the table.

 

“I think forgiveness is a good first start. If you forgive her, then that doesn’t mean that the pain is gone, but it does mean that you’re not using it to hurt yourself and her. So maybe in time things might change,” Alex said, rubbing her thumb over the rim of her shot glass.

 

“I don’t know,” Lena said, shrugging. She really didn’t. If Kara had come to her before Mon-El came back, said she was bi, then Lena would have been delighted. But in view of how things had been tainted, she had no idea how to even consider anything more than a platonic relationship.

 

She couldn’t dismiss it out of hand, though, because the thought of just being friends with Kara felt wrong, somehow. It made her feel a sense of intense loss when she considered it, which was stupid. You couldn’t lose a thing you never had, right?

 

So why was she fighting back tears, here in the middle of an alien dive bar?

 

She found herself wrapped up in the arms of her three companions, and thanked any god who might be listening for sending her people to care for her and help her get through this. Maybe she didn’t have to be lonely forever. Friends were a good start.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena and Kara spar, and Kara makes an offer to Lena that will change her life.

* * *

The sparring session that weekend was exhilarating, and terrible, because Kara was wearing a sports bra and shorts and while Lena had gone for her usual workout gear – tight but not revealing – there was still way too much skin on display. And when they grappled with each other, their sweaty bodies slid across each other in a way that made Lena think of other situations in which they might be like this, together. It was far too arousing, and she had to concentrate hard to push those feelings and desires away. And Kara, of the formerly straight, was clearly having difficulties, too. Her eyes hadn’t risen far from Lena’s cleavage all day.

 

“I think… I think I’m done,” Lena said, after one particularly back-twisting manoeuvre that ended with her face almost in Kara’s crotch.

 

“Are you tapping out, Luthor?” Kara asked, laughing.

 

“I am,” Lena said, nodding. She took a deep breath, and her hand shot out to catch a bottle of water, mid-air, that Alex had just thrown at her.

 

“Nice reflexes, Luthor,” Alex said, smiling.

 

“Thanks, Agent Danvers,” Lena said, saluting only a little mockingly.

 

“You’re most welcome. So, did you talk to her yet, Kara?” Alex asked.

 

“Um… well, not exactly. I mean, we’ve talked, but not about that thing.”

 

“So, talk!” Alex said, leaning back against the wall of the depower room, arms crossed over her chest.

 

Kara reddened.

 

“Oh. Okay. So, Lena. There’s this thing… I mean, you were there, and you saw it? A ring? And they said that I could use it to be invulnerable to Kryptonite, or I could have someone else use it, but I needed to choose carefully. There have been a few times recently when I could have used backup, backup that’s here in National City, I mean, and J’onn can’t always be there because he runs the DEO, too. So I was wondering if you would be willing to train using the Legion Ring? See if you’re a good fit? Alex wanted to do it, but Maggie told me that unless I found some way to share the power between both of them, it wasn’t going to happen.”

 

“I maintain that it’s very unfair of her to stop me, because I’ve only wanted to be able to fly forever. She’s just jealous because she wants to be the superhero,” Alex grumbled, but there was no real bite behind it.

 

“And you think… you think I’m the right person to ask? What about James, or Winn? Or Agent Vasquez, even? She’s pretty badass,” Lena said, stunned.

 

“They would all be good choices, but they told me to be careful, and to choose someone whose heart I really knew. And there’s no-one I know better, other than Alex,” Kara said. Had her eyes always been that blue? Lena took a deep breath.

 

“You really think I’m the person to do this? Kara, if you’re wrong, if I’m untrustworthy? I would have access to time travel. I could go back in time and help Lex to kill Superman. I could go to Krypton and kill you as a child, before you got your powers. It’s an awfully big risk,” Lena said, pacing.

 

“No, it’s not,” the Danvers sisters said, almost in unison. Lena blushed fiercely.

 

“You really want me to do this?” Lena asked, in a whisper. She wiped away a tear, trying to pretend it hadn’t happened.

 

“I do. We do. J’onn does,” Kara said, looking at Lena intently.

 

And that’s how Lena found herself, weeks later, trying to catch Kara – Supergirl – as they wove through desert valleys and forests, flying at speeds just below Mach 1.

 

“This is amazing,” Lena said, smiling so widely that she had to pick flies out of her teeth later that night.

 

“I know,” Kara said, into her com. “I’m so glad I get to share this with you, Lee.”

 

“Could you two stop with the flirting for, like, 5 seconds, and look around you?” Alex said, acerbically. Lena pulled up immediately, scanning the horizon, and a second or so later she caught sight of the missile that was heading for them, a sonic boom blasting out behind it.

 

Lena saw Kara hovering next to her, and they nodded at one another.

 

“You get a hold of it, and I’ll get to the control panel,” Lena said. Kara nodded, shooting off to grab the missile by the tail.

 

Lena launched herself at the thing, catching up a few seconds later, and she settled herself on the side of the missile, using her hands, firstly, to try to pry off the panel covering the controls. She wasn’t strong enough, however, so she concentrated. The Legion Ring was similar in some ways to the rings worn by the Green Lantern Corps – or so J’onn had told her – and a person who was very strong-willed could use it as an aid to telekinesis. She brought her considerable will to bear and the panel flew off in mid-air. She then followed the wiring with her mind and found the right place to safely break the circuit.

 

The missile began to fall immediately, and Kara was straining to hold it up, so Lena ‘grabbed’ the other end with her mental strength. They carried it between them and dropped it on the DEO balcony.

 

“You’re gonna have to do better than that, people,” Kara said, smugly. “Team SuperCorp kicked your asses.”

 

Alex rolled her eyes at them both, but she was smiling.

 

“You did good, guys. Good teamwork.”

 

“I agree. Miss Luthor, I think it’s about time we introduced you to the citizens of National City,” J’onn said, striding in with a wide smile on his face.

 

“As… as a… um….”

 

“As a hero, Lena. Because by choosing to use the ring to help people, that’s what you are. You already were, and now you get to do more, thanks to the Legion,” Kara said, sincerely.

 

“Oh. Okay. Well, if there’s a name you’ve thought up, I’m happy to go with that. But I might need a mask, or something?”

 

“I have been working on so many different designs,” Winn said, appearing in the control centre as if from nowhere, already babbling with excitement. He dragged her off into a corner, showing her designs for a number of suits, most of which she dismissed out of hand. One, however, she found aesthetically pleasing and functional, and he agreed to start working on it immediately. It was purple and green, with a dark mask that covered her face from the nose up, and it had the legion ‘L’ in gold in the centre of the chest. And the cape detached if pulled, something Lena would have insisted on, anyway, because she’d seen how many times people had kicked Kara’s ass by grabbing her cape and pulling her over. When she heard that Rhea had used that trick against Kara during the invasion, she’d sighed in despair.

 

Lena returned to find Kara and Alex laughing about something, and J’onn rolling his eyes.

 

“Did you have a name in mind, Director?” Lena asked politely, when there was a lull in the conversation.

 

“I had one thought, Miss Luthor, though it is up to you. I thought, since the ring you are wearing came from them, you might want to call yourself Legion,” J’onn said.

 

“I like it. It’s a nice way to honour them,” Lena said, smiling.

 

“Yes! Supergirl and Legion are on the case!” Kara jumped up and down, and Alex and Lena shared amused looks.

 

“At least I won’t end up being called Mega-Girl or something stupid like that,” Lena said, grinning.

 

“Hey!” Kara looked annoyed. “I didn’t get a chance to choose my name, _Legion_. It was Miss Grant’s idea, and she gave me this whole spiel when I said she should have called me Superwoman, because she’s a girl, and she’s hot and powerful and… yeah. I got confused,” Kara said, reddening.

 

“More like you looked into Miss Grant’s eyes and floated away on a sea of hormones, like always,” Alex said, poking Kara on the arm.

 

Lena felt a sudden heat in her chest, and it took all of her willpower not to growl. Cat Grant? Kara had a crush on Cat Grant?

 

“It wasn’t a crush. I just admire her. She’s so strong, and powerful, and she never apologises, and I just… I wish I could be like that a bit more,” Kara protested.

 

Kara was kicking at the floor gently, but there were small puffs of dust coming up from the concrete. Lena sighed.

 

“It’s okay if you have a crush on Cat,” Lena said, rubbing Kara’s forearm gently with a thumb. “I hear that even Supergirl is bisexual,” she said, in an exaggerated stage whisper.

 

Kara laughed, but there was something in her eyes that just didn’t sit right with Lena. Was Kara still hung up on that whole thing? Lena took her hand away quickly, wondering if she’d made Kara uncomfortable again. She was so tired of this bullshit. How did things get this screwed up?

 

She made her excuses quickly, and flew back to her office as quickly as she could without breaking windows all over National City. She sighed heavily as she settled back at her desk, and Jess, without batting an eyelid, pulled a few pieces of wire from the missile out of Lena’s hair before sending in her next appointment. It was going to be a long afternoon.

 

***

 

Things were great, Kara told herself. They’d had that little blip, when Alex mentioned Cat Grant and Kara’s huge crush on her mentor, but Lena had been fine since then. Sure, she hadn’t touched Kara unless she absolutely had to, but then that had been true for a long time. But Kara had allowed herself a tiny, infinitesimal bit of hope, and now it was kicking her ass.

 

Lena had a date. She’d told the DEO that she wasn’t available that night unless it was a major emergency, and it turned out that she had a _date_. A date she hadn’t told Kara about. Kara didn’t even know if it was with a guy or a girl. She couldn’t figure out which would bother her more, but the idea of Lena being with anyone other than her made her feel sick.

 

She was thankful, therefore, for the call that came in about a small disturbance near the alien dive bar. She hadn’t punched anyone for a while, and aliens generally had powers that rivalled hers in some ways. Perhaps she could take her frustration out on them.

 

Kara flew into the trap without noticing, so used to having Lena beside her that she didn’t even notice that the fight was staged. Cadmus, it appeared, was back on the scene. She was tangled up in a Kryptonite net and thrown into the back of a van, and she was trying to pull the heavy metal netting off, writhing in pain as the radiation poisoned her, when she felt a sting in her arm. Everything went dark.

 

***

 

Okay, so maybe dating hadn’t been the best idea. Lena’s date, Violet, was an incredibly beautiful woman, with red hair and eyes that were a deep forest green that sparkled in the candlelight. She was funny and intelligent and all of the things that Lena loved in her partners. But Lena couldn’t stop thinking about Kara, about the way that she smiled when they teased each other about potstickers, how Kara’s face crinkled up when she threw a punch in the training room, the joy in her face when they flew above the clouds and the sun hit her face just right.

 

“Lena? Sorry to interrupt but we have a situation. The kind of emergency we were hoping not to have. I’m going to call your phone,” Alex said, into her earpiece.

 

Lena smiled absently at whatever Violet was saying, and then her phone rang in her bag. She made an apologetic face before picking it up, saying it was her emergency ringtone.

 

“Cadmus have Kara,” Alex said, without any more preamble.

 

“Shit. How? Where?”

 

“I’m sending you the co-ordinates. J’onn will meet you in the air near the DEO.”

 

“On my way,” Lena said, standing. “I’m so sorry, Violet. Something came up.”

 

“Sure, Lena. It sounds serious. Are you okay to get home on your own?”

 

“I’ll be fine. Thank you, Violet. I’ll call you.”

 

Lena turned on her heel, throwing some money at their waiter, and then she left the restaurant. She ran into a nearby alleyway and she changed mid-air, the way she’d practised, and a few seconds later she met with J’onn above the DEO.

 

“Follow me, Legion,” J’onn said, nodding. Lena put on a burst of speed and they headed to a warehouse down by the docks.

 

J’onn found the lab where they were holding Supergirl, but he sighed as he scanned it with whatever enhanced vision he possessed.

 

“Your mother has made more of the devices that trapped me in my mind. I can’t go in there – I’ll just end up in a cell,” he said, snarling.

 

“I’m sorry, J’onn. Let’s see if they know what I can do.”

 

J’onn nodded, and Lena – Legion – flew into the building through the roof, flinging Cadmus soldiers left and right with her telekinesis. She followed J’onn’s directions to the lab, and was incensed to find her mother standing over Kara with a kryptonite scalpel. Lena threw herself at Lillian fists first, knocking her mother flat, and she noted with some satisfaction that Lillian was unconscious.

 

“Where’s the device, J’onn?”

 

J’onn told her where to find the small device that could so easily incapacitate him. She crushed it with a thought, and then infused her muscles with some extra strength, picking Kara up.

 

“I trust you can get my mother?” she asked, with a smile, as J’onn landed next to her.

 

“I think I can manage that,” J’onn said, with a grin. “I know I’ve said this before, but it’s nice to have you on board, Legion.”

 

Lena grinned and then took off, Kara’s body hanging limp in her arms. She looked awful, with green veins crossing her face and neck, but Lena knew that she would heal again, if given the time and enough sunlight. She held on to that fact as she flew Kara back to the DEO building, and thanked any gods who might be listening for giving her this gift that allowed her to save Kara, for a change.

 

She landed on the balcony, careful not to jar Kara, and Alex and Maggie flanked her almost immediately as she walked to the infirmary with Kara in her arms.

 

“She’s going to be okay, I think,” Lena said. “She was under Kryptonite lights, but I think that whatever my mother was planning to do, she hadn’t got round to it yet.”

 

“Thank god I planted those trackers in her cape and boots,” Alex murmured.

 

They reached the infirmary and Alex called for the medical staff. Lena put Kara down on the bed delicately, pushing her hair out of her face, and was struck once again with how beautiful Kara was.

 

She didn’t realise she’d sighed until Maggie spoke.

 

“You okay, Luthor?” she asked, pulling Lena back and away from the hospital bed, where doctors and nurses were appearing at an alarming rate.

 

“I’m fine,” Lena said absently. She took off her mask, rubbing at the top of her nose where it had been hurting a little.

 

“Fine my ass. You two still haven’t managed to sort things out, then?” Maggie asked.

 

“What do you mean?” Lena asked, puzzled. “We worked things out. We’re friends again.”

 

“I know you’re friends, but what about the rest of it? You don’t seem like the kind of person who would be okay with Mon-El of Daxam destroying everything that you should have been to each other, Lena.”

 

“Okay, I have to confess, Maggie, that I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about,” Lena said, puzzled and a little annoyed.

 

“Oh. _Oh._ I thought you knew all about it, Luthor. Didn’t he give you the whole villain monologue before he tried to kill you?” Maggie asked, head tilted.

 

Lena tried to think, but she could only vaguely remember what Mon-El had said to her. He’d said she had deliberately used the lead device so that she could have Kara for herself, which was just… pathetic. That was something _he_ would have done. Lena would never do anything that might hurt Kara like that. Even though she hated Mon-El, she’d supported Kara’s relationship with him from the start, because that’s what friends do.

 

“He said that I used that lead device deliberately, so that I could get rid of the competition,” Lena said, rolling her eyes. “I don’t remember anything else. It was a little overwhelming, what with being stabbed and all.”

 

“Yeah, I’ll say. Listen, what do you say we go get you some coffee, and I’ll tell you what I know. Kara’s going to be asleep for a while, if things happen the way they usually do. No-one’s panicking, so she’s going to be all right.”

 

“Okay,” Lena said, still puzzled. She walked through the maze of corridors to the DEO commissary, where Maggie got them two appallingly bad cups of coffee. It was hot, though, so Lena just drowned out the taste with sugar, and took sips of the hot liquid to calm herself down.

 

“So, Mon-El ended up in the Phantom Zone after he had to leave, and that place – it sounds so creepy, man. No time passes, so he could have been in there for ten minutes or a thousand years. He doesn’t even know how long he was in there.”

 

“Yes. I’d gathered that much,” Lena said, patiently.

 

“My personal opinion is that the Phantom Zone sends people a little crazy. I never met her, but Kara’s aunt, Astra – she was trapped in there for as long as Kara was, only she was conscious the whole time. She had this whole plan to try to take over all of the minds in National City, and eventually the whole world, so that she could prevent the same sort of disaster happening here that happened on Krypton.”

 

Lena nodded. She had heard about Astra from both Alex and Kara, the latter still being devastated by the death of the last person who was truly a Kryptonian, the last person who she’d grown up with on Krypton.  

 

“So it sent Astra crazy, and I think it sent Mon-El crazy, too. He started imagining that you cooked up the whole idea with Rhea, some elaborate scheme to get rid of him so you could have Kara to yourself. And then the Legion found him, and he was okay for a while, until he looked at the historical records and realised what had happened with Kara.”

 

“Which was?” Lena asked, raising an eyebrow in irritation. Patience was definitely not her strong suit.

 

“You and Kara were married. The future that the Legion come from, their whole culture is inspired by you and Kara, and by Superman and Lois Lane,” Maggie said, head tilted to one side in that way she did.

 

“Oh,” Lena said, suddenly numb. There was a long silence while she took it in. “We… we’re supposed to be married? And then he came back to, what? Teach Kara the error of her ways with his magic penis?”

 

“Yeah,” Maggie said, rolling her eyes. “I guess that… you guys being married – it brought all of that shit he’d imagined back, and he decided he needed to get back here, to get Kara away from you. And obviously at some point he decided to kill you. So that’s why I asked you if you were prepared to let him win, because you guys could really be something, Lena. I haven’t known Kara that long, but I haven’t ever seen her as happy as she is when she’s with you. She has this… glow, I guess. Like you’re the most important person in her universe.”

 

Lena thought about it, and then had to take a large mouthful of the hot coffee. They could have been together. It was literally meant to be, and Mon-El had driven a wedge between them, turning what could have been a beautiful relationship into something wrong and tainted.

 

“I guess the question is, do you think you can get past what happened to try for something with Kara?” Maggie asked, sipping at her coffee and grimacing.

 

“I don’t know, Maggie,” Lena said, honestly. “I just don’t know.” Maggie looked at her sympathetically, and then took her hand, squeezing it gently.

 

They went back to Kara’s room a little later, finding her stirring under the sun lamps, Alex by her side as always.

 

“Lena! Alex said you saved me!” Kara said, smiling luminously at Lena as she entered the room.

 

“I did. My mother set a trap for you, and she was about to start cutting on you when I got there. God only knows what she was trying to do. But J’onn can read her mind, I guess, and find out what she knows,” Lena said, shrugging. “I think I’m going to head home, if that’s okay with you all. It’s been a long night.”

 

Kara’s face fell.

 

“Oh, yeah. You had a date! I’m so sorry, Lena. I am going to kick your mother’s ass when I see her. Nobody messes with your dates,” Kara said, trying for a smile.

 

“It’s really okay, Kara,” Lena said. “She was perfectly lovely, but she wasn’t the right one for me.”

 

Kara’s smile could have blinded everyone in the room.

 

“Goodnight, guys,” Lena said, touching her Legion ring and transporting herself into her apartment. It was a marvellous gift that she’d been given, and she hoped that Kara knew how much it meant to her. It had changed her life.

 

It took a while before she could sleep, still amped up with adrenaline and caffeine. She kept seeing Kara’s still face, green veins protruding, and she wanted to strangle her mother. How could the woman not see how evil her actions were?

 

She slept, eventually, but it was a light sleep, and every time she turned over she wished that she wasn’t alone. Hugo wasn’t a substitute for a warm body, and an empty bed was no substitute for a partner.

 

Her last thought before she fell into a deep sleep was of how beautiful Kara would have been in a wedding dress.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following her release from the DEO, Kara decides to give Lena some space. In the meantime, Lena decides quite the opposite.

* * *

“So what, Lena didn’t even know?” Alex asked as she and Maggie walked up the stairs to their new apartment.

 

“No. She knew that Mon-El had some stupid idea that she was trying to steal Kara from him, but she must have missed the part where he said they were married.”

 

“Man. No wonder she hasn’t said anything. I thought she was just ignoring the elephant in the room, you know?”

 

“Yeah, me too. But she really didn’t know,” Maggie said, shrugging.

 

“Do you think she’ll do anything now?”

 

“I don’t know. Sometimes it’s easy to forgive someone, but it’s hard to forget someone sneering at you for your sexuality. Especially when it turns out that said person was queer all along,” Maggie said.

 

Alex opened the door and they shed their jackets and shoes.

 

“I… I get that. But Kara didn’t mean it.”

 

“I know that, and so does Lena. But imagine if I’d said something like that to you back when you came out to me? You’d be frightened to ever touch me again, because you would always be thinking I was going to call you disgusting or tell you that you were sick or that I didn’t support your ‘lifestyle’. I can’t blame Lena for being skittish,” Maggie said, grabbing two beers from the refrigerator and handing one off to Alex.

 

“Yeah. I don’t know if I could even talk to someone after that, let alone contemplate a relationship with them,” Alex said thoughtfully. “Just when I think that Lena can’t be any better of a person, she surprises me.”

 

“Mhmm. Yeah. I wanted to dislike her, especially after all that stuff with Metallo breaking her out of prison, but I couldn’t, not after everything she’s done to help the alien community.”

 

“Do you think we should try to do anything? Try to fix it?” Alex asked, as Maggie went through the takeout menus from the coffee table.

 

“No. I think that would be a really stupid thing to do. It’s up to them, now. At least they both know about what their future was supposed to be. It’s up to them, now.”

 

“I hope you’re right,” Alex said. “And hey, no more vegan food, Maggie. You promised!”

 

They degenerated into bickering over their food choices, and it was only later that Alex stopped and sent a prayer to Rao on Kara’s behalf, that she and Lena would find their way to one another. Alex had found her happiness, and she wanted the same for her sister.

 

***

 

Kara was released from the DEO the morning after the Cadmus debacle, and while the only thing she wanted to do was to find Lena, something told her to give her friend some space.

 

Things hadn’t been great between them. They had each other’s backs, of course, when they were out in the field, and they still spent time together, watching shows on Netflix or Amazon or regular television at times, but things weren’t comfortable between them, not the way that they had been before Kara’s outburst over that magazine article a million years ago.

 

Kara knew it was her fault, but she didn’t know how to fix it. And she didn’t know how to handle her own growing feelings for Lena. How could she go about telling Lena that she was pretty sure she was in love with her after all that had gone before? At best, Lena would let her down gently, and at worst, it would be the end of their fragile friendship.

 

Kara flew to Hawaii and sat on the edge of one of their more active volcanoes, hovering over the magma chamber and enjoying the searing heat. It took a lot for her to feel temperature, but for her, being this near to a volcano was probably similar to a human standing in front of a roaring fire. It was comforting and she let her mind wander.

 

“Hey, Kara?” her earpiece buzzed. It was Alex. “What are you doing on Hawaii?”

 

“Just taking a breather,” Kara replied.

 

“Okay, cool. There’s no emergency, I just wanted to let you know that Lena dropped by and she says she’s free for lunch, if you are. At her office.”

 

“Okay, thanks,” Kara said, smiling. She turned back immediately, waiting until she was far offshore before she broke the sound barrier. Lunch with Lena sounded like the perfect way to spend the afternoon.

 

It was. Lena was in a good mood because her mother was in prison, and she was more touchy than normal. She touched Kara’s knuckles absently, and Kara held her breath the whole time. She couldn’t usually feel much from simple touch, but from Lena, a simple touch was _everything._

 

“You know, I spoke to Maggie, last night,” Lena said, after a pause in conversation.

 

“You did? What about?” Kara asked. She was still trying to steady her breathing from Lena touching her hand.

 

“About Mon-El. Do you remember a little while ago, that night when I told you again that I forgave you, and you asked me about him, and if I knew why he’d come back?”

 

“Um, yeah?” Kara asked, a little uncomfortable. Surely Maggie hadn’t just told Lena about their alleged future marriage?

 

“Maggie thought I knew already, and actually when I thought back I realised that he _had_ said it, and I just didn’t pick up on it because of all the stabbing and everything. But he… he said that you and I were married, in the future that he and the Legion came from. Which is presumably this same timeline, because they didn’t jump universes; they went back in time.”

 

Okay, so apparently Maggie could, and _had_ just told Lena about their future marriage.

 

“Yeah,” Kara said, chewing at her thumbnail. “He told me that when he saw that you and I were… were married, that’s when he realised he had to come back here, to stop it. I didn’t really take it in, at the time, but someone reminded me of it, later.”

 

“When did he tell you that?” Lena asked, eyes sharp.

 

“When he locked me up in that Kryptonite cell, wherever we were,” Kara said.

 

“Okay. So, you knew this whole time, and you didn’t tell me?” Lena asked evenly.

 

Kara winced.

 

“To be fair, Lena, I thought that you knew, for a really long time. And then you didn’t know, and I just… I thought, even if you did know, how could you ever forgive me for what I said? How could you ever trust me again? So I didn’t say anything.”

 

“I see. So you made the decision for both of us, then?” Lena asked, one eyebrow up.

 

“No, that’s… that’s not it, at all,” Kara protested. “I just… I know that I’m not good enough for you, Lena. _You_ know that. You deserve someone who wouldn’t allow themselves to be… someone who is strong enough to stand up for what they believe in.”

 

“Someone stronger than Supergirl?” Lena asked, expressionless.

 

“Not physically strong, Lena. I mean, like, emotionally? I mean, who lets themselves be influenced like that? Who lets their boyfriend tell them what they should think? What kind of a weak idiot says stupid, hurtful stuff like that to someone she loves, just because their boyfriend messed with their head? You deserve an equal, Lena, and if I’ve proved nothing else, I’ve proved that I’m not remotely worthy of someone like you. You’re so strong-willed and determined, and you stood up to _everyone_ , Lena. You stood up to your own family, and that’s like, Neville Longbottom levels of strong,” Kara said.

 

Lena snorted.

 

“Neville Longbottom? Really?”

 

“Yeah, because it takes a lot of courage to stand up to your enemies, but even more to stand up to your friends?” Kara said.  

 

Lena laughed, a high, delighted little sound. Kara blushed.

 

“So, to clarify, National City’s heroine – that’s you – who’s supposed to be my future wife, according to your ex-boyfriend from the future – is not good enough for me, because I’m a whole other level of strong. Neville Longbottom level. Okay, then Kara. That seems like a legitimate reason not to even give me the chance to have any input into this decision.”

 

Kara went even redder.

 

“Look, I’m sorry, Lena. I get that it sounds a bit much. I should have talked to you. But the last thing I wanted to do was to make you feel obligated, just because someone says we’re married in the future. We’re not married now, and I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted to see me again, much less have any sort of relationship with me.”

 

“I understand, Kara. But I should get to have some input into my own future, don’t you think? Even if you have already decided that you aren’t good enough for me.” 

 

Kara rolled her eyes.

 

“Fine, Lena. What do you want to do, then?”

 

Lena tilted her head, considering.

 

“Well, if we hadn’t been friends for so long, I’d suggest that we try to get to know each other. But we already do know each other. So, why don’t we start with a kiss?”

 

Kara spat out her Mountain Dew, spraying the coffee table with the weird yellow liquid.

 

“Are you… are you serious?” Kara spluttered.

 

“100%,” Lena said, nodding. “If we’re compatible, a kiss should tell us that. We already know we care about each other; that’s not in question. So it’s the other sort of compatibility we’re testing. Unless you don’t want to, which would pretty much tell me that you don’t want this, and that any further experimentation would be pointless.”

 

“No, that’s not… I don’t not want to. I mean, I want to. I really, really want to. I just… I never expected you to want that. After what I said.” Kara’s heart was thumping, and she was wondering if she’d inhaled too much toxic gas from the volcano. It seemed much more likely than what was actually happening.

 

“Honestly, Kara, I never expected it, either. And I’m telling you this now. If you ever, ever say a thing like any of those things you said that day? I will never see you again. I have way too much self-respect to stay around. I trust that the first time was a mistake, and we both know what it was all about. But I won’t allow anyone to treat me like that, not ever again.”

 

Lena’s eyes were flinty, and Kara swallowed.

 

“I… I swear to you, Lena. In Rao’s name, I swear that I will never, ever say anything like that again. If I ever do, I pray that Rao strikes me down.”

 

“That’s good enough for me,” Lena said, shrugging. “So, are we going to do this?”

 

Kara nodded, moving closer to Lena gingerly. Lena reached out, smoothing Kara’s collar, and then she pulled her closer by the front of her shirt.

 

“Kiss me, Kara,” she more or less demanded, her eyes intent on Kara’s.

 

So Kara did. She kissed Lena Luthor, her best friend. And it was amazing. Kara had never kissed another woman, and it was a sensual experience that she’d never expected. Lena tasted like cinnamon and vanilla from the donut Kara had persuaded her into eating. Kara began to lose herself in the feeling. Lena’s lips, Lena’s tongue, Lena’s hair. It was so soft between her fingers. She realised that she was panting, and she tried to catch her breath, embarrassed. Lena pulled back, a feral grin on her face.

 

“I think that answers that question, don’t you?” she asked, her voice husky. Her eyes were half-lidded, and she looked like the cat that got the cream.

 

“Question?” Kara asked, breathless.

 

“Compatibility. Specifically, sexual compatibility, Kara,” Lena breathed into her ear. Kara shivered, and turned her head just enough for her lips to find Lena’s again.

 

Lena was, as Kara had always dimly suspected, kind of filthy. She had a potty mouth and her hands wandered to all sorts of interesting places, leaving Kara completely flustered and panting.

 

“Rao, Lena. I think… we better stop, because if we don’t, I think we’re going to give Jess an eyeful,” Kara said, regretfully.

 

“I think you’re right,” Lena said, taking a handkerchief from somewhere, along with a tiny mirror. She wiped her face, reapplied lipstick, and smoothed her hair. Within a few seconds she looked just as perfect as she had when Kara had walked in, and Kara still looked as if she’d just been ravished.

 

“You’re perfect,” Kara breathed, staring at Lena’s crimson lipstick.

 

“You’re Supergirl, Kara. Everyone in the world sees you as the perfect woman,” Lena said, shaking her head.

 

“And you’re Lena Luthor, and I couldn’t love anyone more,” Kara said, quietly.

 

“Do you mean that?” Lena asked, with tears in her eyes.

 

“I think I always loved you, Lena. I mean, who wouldn’t? Since I started to get to know you, I’ve been more and more impressed at who you are. Your strength, the way you fight for what you believe in. Sure, you’re one of the youngest CEOs ever and you’re a genius, but that’s not what I mean. I mean the way that you have always stood up and said you can’t live in fear, even when Lex was trying to kill you. I… I didn’t know, not back then, but I think this, whatever it is between us – I think it’s been growing since that first day. Mon-El did his best to mess it up, and he almost succeeded. But I’m so glad you gave me another chance.”

 

Lena was staring, her eyes streaming. Kara picked up the handkerchief she’d used to fix her lipstick, and carefully wiped Lena’s eyes.

 

“I love you, too,” Lena said, eventually. “I think you probably already knew that. But I do.”

 

Kara kissed her again, and then pulled away.

 

“I should go. You have work to do. Can I - can I see you, later? Maybe we could have some dinner?” Kara asked, smiling.

 

“Of course. As long as we’re not busy saving the world, I guess,” Lena said, sighing dramatically.

 

Kara smiled.

 

“I’ll see you later. Call me when you’re done?”

 

Lena nodded, and Kara took off from the balcony. And if Supergirl was seen to do some acrobatics in mid-air that afternoon, well, that was no-one’s business but hers.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter in this little tale. Thank you all for reading and commenting. Until the next time :)

 

* * *

 

_Three months later_

 

Lena had just completed a deal to open a new alien clinic funded by LCorp. It wasn’t entirely altruistic. Those aliens who were treated at the clinic had to be willing to give samples of blood or tissue so that Lena and her R&D people could work out how their superhuman abilities worked. The Clinic’s board was to be led by Supergirl, however, and that meant that aliens were already flocking to apply for free healthcare, even if it was coming from a Luthor. They knew Supergirl would never approve something that would involve their biology being used as a weapon.

 

Lena’s skills had been growing, and she was discovering powers that she hadn’t known the ring possessed. She could replicate most of Kara’s abilities and some of J’onn’s, too. She couldn’t read minds but she could see and phase through walls. Her hearing was much better, and she’d worked out ways of using the telekinetic powers to enhance her own physical abilities, too. For all intents and purposes, now, she was as strong and as fast as Kara.

 

She heard the familiar sound of boots landing on her balcony, but something about it didn’t sound right. She closed her eyes and used her mind’s eye to look behind her.

 

It was a bedraggled looking Mon-El. He had another Legion ring – a bloody Legion ring – on his right hand. Lena hit the alarm under her desk again, sighing. She didn’t have time for this.

 

“I found out that you’d managed to seduce her, Luthor. Did you think that I wouldn’t? They can’t keep me in a cell, I’m a Daxamite. I’m basically immortal!”

 

“What do you want, Mon-El?” Lena asked, standing up at her desk and turning to face him. She leaned back on the desk, her arms folded across her chest. Her own Legion ring was invisible, a trick she’d learned not long after getting the ring. She couldn’t have her investors or staff working out that their purple and green clad superhero was actually the CEO of LCorp.

 

“I want you to die, Lena Luthor. And then I’m going to take Kara away, to where no-one will ever find us,” Mon-El snarled, his bland face screwed up in hatred.

 

“Like where? The Phantom Zone? Or the Well of Stars? Or maybe you’ll go back in time, to Daxam from before your civilisation settled there. Anywhere you can keep her alone and powerless, and under your influence, hmm? Am I right?” Lena asked, calmly.

 

“She loves me. She just doesn’t realise it. You’ve messed her up, with your disgusting earth customs,” Mon-El said, advancing threateningly. Lena rolled her eyes.

 

“If she loved you, she would be with you, Mon-El. I mean, I knew you were stupid, but I didn’t think you were this dumb. She doesn’t love you, because you’re scum, Mon-El. You only care about yourself, and Kara could never love someone like that. So why don’t you just give up on this insanity and go back to the 31st Century?” Lena asked, brow arched.

 

Mon-El threw himself forward, trying to punch her. Lena grabbed him with her telekinesis and threw him into the far wall of the office.

 

“How did you do that?” he asked, mouth open, as he got to his feet unsteadily.

 

“You’re from the future, Mon-El. You tell me. Didn’t your mother ever teach you anything about tactics? Knowing your enemy? Clearly her intelligence skipped a generation.”

 

He threw himself at her again, and Lena sighed. She didn’t have any Thanagarian Nth metal handy, so she was going to have to hold him until the DEO and/or Kara got there. He was yelling obscenities at her, so she stuffed a gag of compressed air into his mouth and sat down at her computer, doing her best to ignore the idiot Daxamite hanging in mid-air in the middle of her office.

 

Kara landed on the balcony a few seconds later, and she burst through the door in a panic. She stopped, suddenly, when she saw Mon-El hanging there, and Lena nonchalantly typing an email to her building manager.

 

“What the…?” Kara asked, mouth hanging open.

 

“He came to kill me,” Lena said, sighing.

 

Kara shot him a filthy look.

 

“Are you keeping him quiet?” Kara asked.

 

“Yes,” Lena said.

 

“Could you let him speak?”

 

“If you want, sweetie, but I warn you, he didn’t have anything new to say. I’m evil and perverted and he’s taking you away to some corner of the universe where no-one will ever find you, blah blah blah. It’s like he learned how to be a villain from an eighties action movie.”

 

“Let him talk,” Kara said, sighing.

 

Lena shrugged, releasing the gag.

 

He started screaming obscenities at her, and Lena sighed and went back to her email. The DEO burst through the door just then, and Alex shook her head as she saw who it was.

 

“What are you doing here, douchewad?” she asked, kicking him in the balls. He doubled over. Lena winced – Alex wore heavily reinforced boots, and Lena was convinced that the toecaps were made of leftover Nth metal.

 

“I’m here to get Kara away from her,” Mon-El said, gritting his teeth. Alex was already busy handcuffing him with the Nth metal cuffs, cuffs that not even Kara could get out of. And Mon-El was nowhere near as strong as Kara.

 

“Away from her fiancée, you mean?” Alex asked, innocently. He started screaming immediately, obscenities and accusations of brainwashing. Lena stuffed the gag back into his mouth, still leaning on her desk.

 

“Did we get engaged, sweetie?” Lena asked, in a whisper. Kara shook her head, biting back a grin. Alex had never liked Mon-El. It wasn’t terribly surprising that she would fuck with him.

 

J’onn swooped in through the window just then, and he stopped, staring in disbelief at Mon-El, still hanging in mid-air.

 

“Seriously? He’s back again?”

 

“He got hold of another Legion ring,” Lena said, sighing. “I think he hurt one of them.”

 

“Okay. Time for drastic measures,” J’onn said, eyes flashing. He walked over to Mon-El and touched his fingertips to the man’s cheek. Lena could sense huge amounts of psychic energy being expended.

 

“You can let him go now, Lena,” J’onn said. Mon-El was hanging limp in her hold. She let him go, not caring a great deal when he fell to the floor with a loud thump.

 

“What did you do to him?” Kara asked, concerned.

 

“I took away his memories,” J’onn said.

 

“Which ones?” Lena asked.

 

“All of them,” J’onn said calmly. “He is sick, obsessed with Kara, obsessed with possessing her. Now he’s a blank slate. He can be returned to the 31st century and maybe he will prove to be of some help to them, without this obsession controlling him. If not, they can leave him in a red sun system and he won’t be able to hurt anyone else. Does that sound like a fair way to deal with him?”

 

Kara nodded, reluctantly.

 

“I’m sorry you had to do that. He was a good guy, once,” Kara said.

 

“No, he wasn’t,” Lena and Alex said, almost in unison. Several DEO agents behind Alex sniggered.

 

“Sorry, Supergirl. But he was always an asshole, as far as I’m concerned,” Lena said.

 

Kara sighed.

 

“So, I think that’s my cue. Kara, would you like to come with me, to take him back and return the Legion Ring he stole?”

 

“Sure,” Kara said, nodding.

 

Lena stood up, and in a blink she was dressed as Legion. She walked over to Mon-El, and took him by one arm, hoisting him to his feet effortlessly. Not for the first time, she thanked the gods for this gift.

 

Kara took her other arm, and Lena concentrated hard on the 31st century, on Alaxa and the others. She opened her eyes to find herself inside a large hall. Ekh was on the floor, bleeding from a head injury, and Alaxa was healing him. The other Legionnaires and a number of other unusually dressed people were standing around, looking panicked.

 

“There he is!” someone yelled. Kara held up one hand.

 

“He’s contained, I promise,” she said, looking around at the people surrounding them.

 

“Yeah, that’s what they said before,” someone muttered.

 

“He’s had his memories removed,” Lena said, loudly. “He’s basically a child in a man’s body. He shouldn’t have any reason to want to leave, now, because he won’t remember anything about the past. If you all would prefer, I can leave him on Daxam or some other red sun planet, where he can’t hurt anyone else.”

 

Alaxa stood, a groaning Ekh standing next to her a few seconds later.

 

“Supergirl! And Legion. It’s such a pleasure to see you both,” she said, a huge smile breaking out on her face. “I knew you’d bring him back.”

 

“He’s all yours, if you want, Alaxa,” Lena said. “He’s not going to want to harm anyone else, not anymore.”

 

“Thank you, Legion,” Alaxa said, winking at her. “Love the costume.”

 

“No,” Lena said, shaking her head. “Thank you, Alaxa. Did you… did you all know that Kara would choose to gift me the ring?” she asked, looking around at the other Legionnaires.

 

“We did. But it could only have been you, Miss Luthor,” Hanza said, smiling. It looked a little frightening on his face, but Lena smiled back, nonetheless.

 

“What do you mean by that?” she asked, tilting an eyebrow curiously.

 

“No-one else has the sort of power you do,” the reptilian replied.

 

“I don’t have any powers,” Lena said, frowning. “It’s all from the ring.”

 

“Take it off,” Alaxa said, smiling. Lena did so, a little bemused, handing the ring to Alaxa. “Now, lift me up.”

 

Lena shrugged and exercised the same sort of concentration she did when she was using the Legion ring, and to her astonishment, Alaxa rose into the air. Lena put her back on the ground carefully, stunned.

 

“See? You had latent powers, telekinesis and others. You would have discovered them eventually, anyway, but because of Mon-El and his obsession, we were forced to intercede and give you a little bit of a push.”

 

“Wow,” Lena said, eyes wide.

 

“Yeah,” Kara said, nodding. “Wow.”

 

They smiled at one another, and Lena was finding it hard to look away, when Alaxa squealed and clapped her hands.  

 

“Oh my god, you guys are so cute!” Alaxa said, at a pitch that would have been more suited to a dog whistle. Kara winced.

 

“So, here’s your ring, Lena,” Alaxa said, smiling.

 

“Are you sure?” Lena asked.

 

“Absolutely. You might need some of the ring’s powers in future,” Alaxa said seriously.

 

“Okay. Thank you,” Lena said, nodding around at all of the Legionnaires. “Mon-El still has a ring, but I don’t think he’s going to come looking for us again, not after J’onn wiped his mind.”

 

“Thank you, Miss Luthor,” Anraz said, stepping forward and taking the ring from Mon-El’s finger. He looked at the Daxamite in disgust before replacing the ring on Ekh’s hand, smiling at his fellow Legionnaire.

 

“Are you sure you’re happy to deal with him?” Lena asked.

 

“Yes. If he misbehaves in any way we’ll leave him in pre-industrial Daxam. See how he likes being a farm labourer,” Ekh said, touching his ring absently with his thumb.

 

“Sounds like a fitting job for him,” Lena said, smiling. It really did.

 

“Thank you for your help, Lena Luthor, first Legionnaire,” Alaxa said, formally.

 

“Thank you all for everything you’ve done,” Lena said, bowing slightly from the waist.

 

Kara took her hand and Lena thought about home, her office, as it had been when they left. They blinked out and back in again, and Alex was staring at them.

 

“You weren’t even gone 30 seconds,” she breathed.

  
“Yeah, I guess I just came back at the same time as I left?” Lena said, rubbing at the back of her neck.

 

“That’s so cool,” Alex said, smiling.

 

“So, it looks like you were my hero again, Legion,” Kara said, with a grin.

 

“I think I still owe you a few,” Lena said wryly.

 

“Can we leave you guys to it? Is he gone for good?” Alex asked.

 

“Yes. With J’onn’s mind wipe and with the Legion watching over him, he should have no reason to come looking for either of us,” Lena said.

 

“Good.”

 

“Thank you for coming,” Lena said, nodding at J’onn, Alex, and the other agents.

 

“Anytime, Legion,” one of the agents said, grinning. Lena grinned back, and then the DEO agents left.

 

“Well. That was a hell of a day,” Lena said, changing out of her costume and into a sharp suit with a thought.

 

“Yeah. Sorry I didn’t get here sooner, there were another 15 of those clones hiding out in a cave in the hills behind the town. It was so gross. They killed, like, 50 deer. Why couldn’t they just go to McDonalds? All those cute baby deer!” Kara complained.

 

“It’s okay, sweetie. I didn’t know if I’d actually need your help, but it seemed prudent to call, just in case. Mon-El has proven to be a bit more tenacious than we might have thought. I really hope this is the end of it.”

 

“Yeah. You and me both. He’s like the worst ex-boyfriend ever.”

 

“I’m sure there has to be a worse one somewhere in the history of the world. But yes, he is an asshole. Or was, I guess. Since he’s basically a blank slate now.”

 

Lena sat down on the couch, calling out to Jess for coffee. There was a muffled yell in response, which she took as agreement.

 

“So, what does she do, when someone comes to attack you?” Kara asked.

 

“There’s a panic room out there, all the staff have access with a retinal scan. Since the various murderers aren’t after them, they’re usually safe. I pressed the all-clear when I got back.”

 

“It sucks that you are still under attack so much. Especially since you do so much to help people in the city. Aliens, too.” Kara was frowning.

 

“Apparently they’ll learn, at some point. It’ll only take, what? Another 1100 years?” Lena said, laughing.

 

“I think from what they said it will be a lot earlier than that. They have a fully developed culture based on things that we and Superman and Lois taught them.  I’ve been thinking about it, actually. Have you ever heard of the Girod?” Kara asked.

 

Jess knocked on the door, coming in a few seconds later with two cups of coffee and some doughnuts.

 

“I figured you might need something to keep you going after whatever that was,” Jess said, smiling.

 

“Thanks, Jess,” Kara said, with a wide smile.

 

“You’re welcome, Kara. Did you need anything else, Miss Luthor?” Jess asked.

 

“No, Jess, we’re fine,” Lena said, hand coming up to cover her mouth. She was snickering.

 

Jess swished her way out of the office, and Lena started laughing out loud as soon as the door closed.

 

“Did she just call me Kara?” Kara asked, in a whisper.

 

“She did,” Lena confirmed, grinning.

 

“She’s way too smart, that assistant of yours,” Kara said, shaking her head. “And now I have to get her to sign an NDA.”

 

“I’m sure she’ll be fine. She has known about me for a while, and hasn’t said a word. She’s completely loyal,” Lena assured her.

 

“I’ll have Alex send the paperwork over,” Kara said, sighing.

 

“So,” Lena said, pulling a piece from the strawberry glazed doughnut and chewing on it. “Girod? Is that what you said?”

 

“Yes! The Girod. They’re like, the founding principles of Krypton. I mean, that’s not to say that they were all followed, because if they had been, the planet would never have been overmined and destroyed. But the principles, they’re…they were called the 11 virtues. The words, they kind of had more than one meaning, but the first one was _zehdh_. It means home, family, belonging. For me, it’s the most important one, because that’s what I lost. My home, my family, the place where I belonged."

 

“Oh, Kara. I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to bring up old wounds.”

 

“No, that’s not… I’m not telling you this because I want your pity or anything. It just… even though I’m the last, I guess, I wanted that part of Krypton to live on after me. I’ll write them down for you, if you’re interested.”

 

“Of course I’m interested, Kara. This is fascinating. I had no idea Kryptonian culture was so… rich.”

 

“Remind me to take you to the Fortress of Solitude one of these days, Lena-te. You’ll find it fascinating, I’m sure,” Kara said, beaming at Lena’s obvious interest in her lost culture.

 

“I would love that. Are you sure your cousin would be okay with it, though? He has no reason to be fond of people with my last name,” Lena said.

 

“Well, I have every reason to be fond of people with your last name and your first name, and I’m older than Clark. The Fortress isn’t just his, it’s mine too,” Kara said.

 

“Okay. I would love to see more about your culture. Anything you want to share,” Lena said.

 

“Okay. So, the Girod, it’s the cornerstone of everything that Krypton was meant to be. Not that we all reached those standards, but people definitely tried. I was too young to really understand what was going on around me, but I was taught about those virtues as soon as I could talk or read or anything. Anyway, I was thinking that if there was anything that the future Legion might use as principles to base their new civilisation on, it would be the Girod.”

 

“That makes sense,” Lena said.

 

“It does. So I think it’s time I introduced you to it, and to the other parts of my past and my culture that I’ve been suppressing since I move here, so that I could fit in. If you’re okay with that?”

 

“Yes, Kara. I’m interested,” Lena said, a little puzzled. Hadn’t she already answered that question?

 

“I know you probably think I’m repeating myself, but, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you, and I can’t do that until I know that you understand what I’m asking,” Kara said, eyes intent on Lena’s.

 

“Okay,” Lena said, quietly. “Just tell me when and I’ll be there, okay?”

 

Kara nodded, smiling.

 

They parted ways shortly afterwards, but Kara invited Lena for dinner that night. Lena had a busy day with a new R&D project, and only just had time to switch into a comfortable pair of jeans and a sweater before transporting herself to Kara’s door, a few seconds before she was due to arrive.

 

Kara smiled widely when she answered the door.

 

“I didn’t hear you come up the stairs,” Kara said.

 

“So, what? You’re allowed to zip around everywhere in that cape, and I can’t use my superpowers to get to dinner on time?” Lena teased.

 

“Of course you can, Lena, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…” Kara trailed off as she realised that Lena was teasing her, and thumped her on the arm. Lena laughed, stepping inside and taking her shoes off. She was glad she’d learned how to reinforce her muscles against stronger opponents. If Kara had hit her like that before she’d been granted her Legion ring, she’d have gone through the building and out the other side.

 

They had a lovely dinner, home-cooked for a change. Chicken parmigiana with spaghetti and a beautiful chocolate cake that Kara made from scratch.

 

“So, to what do I owe the honour of your chocolate cake, Kara?” Lena asked, as she took the last spoonful.

 

“I thought, after everything, that you deserved a treat. Mon-El coming back – it shook me up, and I thought about what my life would be like without you in it. I mean, I know you still have your powers, even without the ring, but I didn’t know that until later. I thought that, if he’d taken it from you, he could have killed you.”

 

“Okay,” Lena said, a little puzzled. “So in your mind, worrying that I might die means that I get chicken parm and the world’s most unhealthy chocolate cake?”

 

“Exactly,” Kara said, grinning. “And, there was one more thing that I wanted to give to you.”

 

She stood and spun in place, and when she stopped, she was wearing… nothing.

 

“It’s past time we did this,” Kara said, straddling Lena’s lap. “Don’t you think?”

 

“I think we wanted to take it slow,” Lena said, running one finger down Kara’s jawline. Kara’s breathing stuttered audibly.

 

“We have been, haven’t we?” Kara whispered. “I know you better than anyone, except maybe Alex, and I’ve never felt this way about anyone. I’m ready. And I don’t have to hold back, because you’re as strong as I am, now.”

 

“Is that so?” Lena asked, leaning forward and taking Kara’s earlobe into her mouth, sucking gently.

 

“Yes,” Kara said, breathing hard.

 

“Is that something you like, Kara? Me being strong? So you don’t have to worry that I’ll break if you’re too rough? What if I’m too rough with you?”

 

Kara’s whole body shuddered, and Lena bit her earlobe, hard.

 

“I… please, Lena. Can you take me to bed, honey?” Kara begged, sliding her hands into Lena’s hair.

 

Lena lifted her up, grinning at Kara’s sharp intake of breath.

 

“You really like that I’m strong, huh?” Lena murmured.

 

“I do,” Kara said, wrapping her legs around Lena’s waist.

 

The bed broke before they made any sort of headway, and Lena was forced to reinforce the floor and walls with some of her mental energy before trying again. Kara was beautiful, her eyes dark and somehow still sparkling like sapphires. She looked up at Lena, and the vulnerability and the sheer need in her eyes made Lena tremble.

 

“I love you, Kara,” she said, before leaning down to kiss Kara softly, and then more and more messily, their teeth bashing together and noses bumping. Kara pulled Lena’s top off, then simply ripped her bra right off.

 

“Someone’s impatient,” Lena said, teasing.

 

“Yes, someone is,” Kara said, flashing her teeth in a grin. She leaned down, kissing Lena deeply, licking into her mouth and sucking on her tongue. Lena groaned loudly and started removing her own pants and underwear.

  
“Who’s eager now?” Kara murmured, biting Lena’s earlobe, hard enough to draw blood in an ordinary human. Lena gasped.

 

They went at each other as if their lives depended on how hard they made each other come, and didn’t stop until they were both shaking and sweating. Afterwards, Kara lay back, flat, eyes wide in astonishment, and Lena laughed, putting her head on Kara’s chest.

 

“I can’t believe I nearly missed this,” Kara said, and suddenly Lena realised that she was crying.

 

“Hey,” she said, sitting up, concerned. “It’s okay, Kara. He’s gone, and all that stuff that happened – that’s the past, darling. I love you, and you love me. He lost, and we still found each other, even though he tried so hard to make sure it never happened. This, right here – this is a celebration that we beat him. Fuck that asshole, Kara. We beat him. We’re here, together, and he’s a drooling infant. He got what he deserved.”

 

Kara looked up at her, eyes filled with tears.

 

“I just… I almost threw it away, Lena. I very nearly screwed it up. I hurt you. And I can never, ever take that back.”

 

“I forgave you, Kara. I understand what Mon-El did to you. He messed with your head. I watched it happen before the invasion and I didn’t do anything about it, because I thought you were happy. If I’d realised how much damage he was doing – if I’d had any idea how much he was messing with your mind, how he was making you feel? I would have stabbed him with a lead blade months before the Daxamites invaded. I can’t say I was particularly happy about what you said to me, how you treated me. Especially not when I realised that you were bisexual too. But I can’t blame you for being emotionally vulnerable to a predator like him. And you shouldn’t, either. I just hope that if someone like that comes along again, you’ll recognise their bullshit for what it really is.”

 

“I don’t deserve you, Lena,” Kara said, her eyes wide. “I really don’t.”

 

“Kara, no-one really deserves anyone. Do you think anyone would believe that I deserve you, after the things my brother did to your family? I think we get what we get, and I for one have no intention of letting you go, Kara Zor-El. Especially not after the best night of my life.”

 

Kara blushed, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes.

 

“Now, I think I might have worked up a little extra energy,” Lena said, almost purring. “What about you?”

 

“Yeah,” Kara said, eyes widening. “I think I could stay awake a little longer.”

 

It was past dawn when they finally slept.

 

***

 

_2 years later_

 

“Kara, really. What is wrong with you today?” Cat asked, exasperated. “You need to sit still, you silly girl. Otherwise your hair will look like a rat’s nest.”

 

Kara couldn’t help it. Her leg was bouncing, and she just wanted to take off, to fly around the world whooping and screaming her delight. It was her wedding day, and she was marrying the love of her life.

 

“Kara,” Cat said, a little more patiently. “Lena is going to be waiting for you, and she’s going to be wearing a beautiful dress, and her hair is going to be beautiful, and she’s going to want to see her Supergirl walking down the aisle. Do you think you can calm down enough to let Alicia finish your hair and Sebastian to finish your makeup? Then we can get those beautiful robes on and you can marry your beloved. Come on, Supergirl. Chop, chop.”

 

Kara smiled at her, breathing in slowly, calming herself.

 

“Of course, Miss Grant. Cat. Thank you. You’re the best,” Kara said, patting Cat’s hand gratefully.

 

“You’re welcome, Kara. Now, let’s get on with this. It might be fine for you Kryptonians, but it’s freezing up here for us puny humans.”

 

Kara laughed, sending a beam of heat vision into the one rock wall of the room, and it heated up quickly.

 

“Now we really do have to hurry, so the ice walls don’t melt,” Kara said. She smiled, and the hairdresser and makeup artist approached her cautiously to finish the job.

 

Ten minutes later, they were finished, and Cat and Alex helped Kara into her dress, exclaiming over how beautiful she looked. It was a crystal blue colour, and it made Kara’s eyes stand out, she knew. She had no idea what Lena was wearing, but she hoped it would emphasise Lena’s eyes, too. Lena’s eyes were Kara’s favourite feature.

 

“Ready, Kara Zor-El?” Alex asked lightly, smiling.

 

“Ready, Alex Danvers,” Kara agreed.

 

They stepped inside the huge central cavern of the Fortress, where Lena was standing at the dais under a depiction of Rao’s light that Kara had drawn herself the year before, a huge painting that would have dwarfed any other room she might have put it in. Here, however, it looked just right.

 

Kara met Eliza at the end of the aisle, and walked hand in hand with her to meet Lena, who was standing, impatiently waiting with J’onn, who was performing the ceremony. Everyone they loved was there, bar Lena’s family, for obvious reasons, since Lex and Lillian were incarcerated in the deepest, darkest holes imaginable. But as she took Lena’s hand, smiling in amazement at the beautiful light green of the dress, she looked out at the people waiting. Kal, Lois, Alex, Maggie, Jeremiah, Jess, Winn, James. There were a few others there too, like Lucy and Susan Vasquez and even the President, who had been delighted to receive her invitation. It was a small ceremony, of necessity, because no-one needed to know that Supergirl and the sister of her family’s greatest enemy were getting married. Kara and Lena had already put a small announcement in the Tribune, which had someone managed to attract little or no publicity. That was how they wanted it.

 

The ceremony was short, performed in _Kryptahniuo_ , and Lena and Kara answered quickly in the same language. Soon enough, J’onn was telling them that they were life-bonded, and telling them to kiss. They did so, floating a few feet off the air, entwined, and those below applauded them with tears in their eyes.

 

Their dinner and reception were a blur of people, of faces they loved, and they danced until 1 in the morning, surrounded by their chosen family. They went to a hotel that night, the best room National City had to offer, and made love exuberantly until they were too tired to continue.

 

Before they fell asleep, Lena put her head on Kara’s chest.

 

“You know, I half expected him to turn up again, to be all ‘I object!’ and try to stop the ceremony,” she murmured, her lips moving against Kara’s collarbone.

 

“He’s gone, Lena. We went to see the Legion just a week ago and they confirmed he was sent to Daxam’s past to be a farm labourer after he tried to force himself on some poor girl. He’s long dead by now,” Kara said, soothingly.

 

“I know. But I still feel like he’s going to pop up, like they do at the end of a movie, you know?” Lena said, shuddering.

 

“He’s gone. I’ll go and get his bones for you so you can stomp on them,” Kara said. “We’ll pound them to dust with a sledgehammer. If that’s what you want. If he comes back, Lee, somehow? It’s no holds barred. I will heat vision him to death. You can pull his body to pieces with your telepathy. He has no chance against us both, united. I promise you. We’re a team. Team Supercorp,” Kara said, holding up a hand for a high five.

 

Lena returned it, smiling.

 

“I love you so much, Kara Zor-El,” she murmured, leaning up for a long, deep kiss.

 

“It’s Kara Luthor-Danvers, now,” Kara said. “Remember?”

 

“I still wish we could have used your Kryptonian name as our surname,” Lena said.

 

“Me too,” Kara said wistfully. “It would have been awesome. But there’s no way to explain that to the world without giving away my identity. So our adoptive names will have to do.”

 

She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath.

 

“So, do you have any regrets, about marrying me? About the bonding? Because neither of us can go back, now,” Kara said seriously.

 

“I know, Kara. We’ve been through this hundreds of times. The bonding is a physical as well as a romantic one, and we can’t be apart for too long. Not that I would want to. There’s no divorce, which is fine. Because you and I aren’t going to be breaking up, okay? I didn’t spend months over the last couple of years at the Fortress learning about the Girod and bonding and marriage rituals just to get cold feet now at the last minute, okay?” Lena said, rolling her eyes slightly. This was a discussion they’d had hundreds of times, and she clearly couldn’t quite believe they were still having it, even after it was too late to make any difference.

 

“I know,” Kara said, sheepishly. “I love you. I’m sorry. I just… Earth marriage just isn’t the same, you know? And it’s so important to me.”

 

“I know it is, Kara. And it’s important to me, too, which is why I agreed, darling. So just… let’s get on with this life that we have in front of us. I love you, Mrs Luthor-Danvers,” Lena said, running a finger along Kara’s cheekbone delicately.

 

“And I love you, Mrs Luthor-Danvers,” Kara said, smiling so widely it made her face hurt.

 

“Who’d have thought it?” Lena said. “A Super and a Luthor, together.”

 

“Always,” Kara reminded her, pulling her body close to kiss her again. “Always.”

 

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who commented on this - you all have made interesting points, and I appreciate your thoughts. The thought at the forefront of my mind through this was that people can hurt you, but only you get to decide how you react to that, and forgiveness is a gift that you give yourself. Thanks again. :)


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